Winter 2010
Alasdair Brooks, DPhil, Newsletter Editor, School of Archaeology and Ancient History,
University of Leicester, United Kingdom
Index
President’s Corner .......................................1
Dawdy MacArthur Fellowship ...................2
Field School: St. Mary’s College of
California & University of Rhode Island ..3
Images of the Past ..........................................4
Velhos e Novos Mundos Conference .......15
Current Research ..........................................6
Australasia & Antarctica ..........................7
Canada-Atlantic ........................................7
Canada-Québec ......................................14
Continental Europe .................................15
Mexico, Central & South America .........17
Underwater (Worldwide) ....................19
USA-Midwest ..........................................20
USA-Mid-Atlantic ...................................22
USA-Northeast ........................................25
USA-Pacific West .....................................26
Field School: Archaeology in Annapolis ..27
Finding the Familiar II .........................30
Archaeological Prospection Workshop .....30
Archeomatica ..............................................31
Start planning now
for
SHA 2012
Baltimore
Maryland
Volume 43: Number 4
President’s Corner
William B. Lees
One of the many hats that I wear
these days is as a member of the Florida
Historical Commission. At a recent meeting,
we reviewed and ranked applications
for funding from the state’s once-robust
Historic Preservation Grants Program (the
legislature allocated over $14,000,000 for
historic preservation grants for the fiscal
year 2007–2008; the last three years the
allocation has been $0). During this meeting,
Commission Chair and archaeologist
Marion Almy handed a button to a state
representative who had come to speak in
support of an application from his district.
The button, which was produced by the
National Trust for Historic Preservation,
said simply, “Preservation Equals Jobs.”
The message to the representative was
that while our job was to review and
rank applications, his, as a member of the
legislature, was to appropriate funds for
the Historic Preservation Grants Program,
which will result in immediate jobs where
they are most needed, and help to improve
Florida’s sustainable heritage tourism
industry.
In the economic and political climate
in which we find ourselves today, and
are likely to remain in for some time
to come, it behooves us to deliver this
message—Preservation Equals Jobs—every
chance we get and chance that we make.
Cultural resource management is after
all an industry unto itself which employs
individuals at many levels. We also have the
opportunity—I would say responsibility—
to broaden the economic impact of our
work by giving back to the communities in
which we work. We need to seek, where it
is not already provided, small increases in
funding to allow the transformation of the
results of our work into a public product
that can be used in a new exhibit in a local
Winter 2010
museum, an interpretive kiosk in a roadside
visitor center, an educational video on a
local government website, or an historical
marker. Where money is not available, this
would be a good time to bite the bullet
and give back to the community. This is a
good business investment that will help to
make what we do relevant to a ready-made
constituency. The people whom you help or
reach in this fashion are often transformed
into advocates.
We also need to remember that we, as
archaeologists, are part of a larger historic
preservation community, and we need to
actively support historic preservation writ
large as a means to invest dollars in local
economies. This will result in preservation
gains and also will create or preserve jobs. In
these tough economic times, we are seeing
unusual pressure placed on local historic
preservation programs, with the loss of
staff and sometimes with the loss of entire
preservation programs, local museums,
and historic sites. These often fall beneath
the axe because administrators do not see
them as essential services such as utilities
and police and fire protection. But these
are programs that create jobs directly and
indirectly by attracting heritage tourists or
prolonging the stay of tourists who may
be visiting for other reasons, and cutting
these programs represents a false economy.
Even though some of these programs may
not directly affect our lives as practicing
archaeologists, they do affect our lives
as part of the larger historic preservation
community and erode the work that has
been done to bring preservation to local
communities.
It is at this level—at the level of local
governments—where we increasingly
realize
we
Continued on Page 2
can make the
Page 1
President’s Corner, Cont’d from Page 1
greatest advances in terms of preservation
of historical and archaeological resources.
SHA and our sister organizations such as
SAA and RPA have long put substantial
effort into securing preservation at the
national level. Recently, focus has been
shifting towards making an impact at
the state and local level because this is
where, especially in regions with little
in the way of public land, the greatest
impact on archaeological resources occurs.
Unfortunately, state and local government
is a patchwork of amazing complexity
that is impossible to address with a
single approach. Here the importance of
archaeologists living and working in these
local jurisdictions (that would be you!)
becomes ever-more important. While you
may feel unable to make an impact on a
national or even a state level, you can make
an impact at the local level.
SHA has been very active in government
affairs, and has been very successful as
well due to the work of the Governmental
Affairs Committee, currently chaired by
Terry Klein, and of Nellie Longsworth, who
is retained by SHA and ACRA and who has
been of incredible assistance on the Hill
for many years. We will continue these
efforts, but we need to broaden our impact
at the local level. Here, we need to develop
the tools (training, online resources) that
will help SHA members know how to
influence archaeological preservation and
archaeological heritage tourism at the
local level. I am hopeful that SHA, SAA,
and ACRA can work together to develop a
coordinated approach to the challenges of
preservation at the local level.
If you have a particular interest in
Published Quarterly
Subscription Rate: Individual: Regular ($125), Student ($70), Adjunct ($40),
Friend ($175), Developer ($250), Benefactor ($400), Life ($3,600).
Organizational: Institution ($200). All U.S. funds.
Newsletter Editor: Alasdair Brooks, DPhil
Copy Editor: Daniel McNaughton.
Special News Editors:
USA-Pacific West: Kimberly Wooten
Current Publications: Charles Ewen
USA-Southeast: Gifford Waters
Images of the Past: Benjamin C. Pykles
USA-Southwest: Michael R. Polk
Current Research Editors:
Africa: Kenneth Kelly
Asia: Edward Gonzalez-Tennant
Australasia: Susan Piddock
Canada-Atlantic: Robert Ferguson
Canada-Ontario: Jon Jouppien
Canada-Prairie: Jennifer Hamilton
Canada-Québec: Stéphane Noël
Canada-Western: Rod J. Heitzmann
Caribbean/Bermuda:
Frederick H. Smith
Continental Europe: Natascha Mehler
Great Britain & Ireland:
James Symonds
Mexico, Central & South America:
Pedro Paulo Funari
Middle East: Uzi Baram
Underwater (Worldwide): Toni Carrell
USA-Alaska: Doreen Cooper
USA-Central Plains: Jay Sturdevant
USA-Gulf States: Kathleen H. Cande
USA-Mid-Atlantic: Ben Resnick
USA-Midwest: Lynne L.M. Evans
USA-Northeast: David Starbuck
USA-Northern Plains & Mountain
States: Steven G. Baker
USA-Pacific Northwest:
Robert Cromwell
Volume 43: Number 4
Editorial Address: The Society for Historical Archaeology Newsletter, c/o Dr.
Alasdair Brooks, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of
Leicester, University Road, Leicester
LE1 7RH, United Kingdom
<amb72@le.ac.uk>
Business Address: 9707 Key West Avenue, Suite 100, Rockville, MD 20850.
Phone 301.990.2454; Fax 301.990.9771;
Email <hq@sha.org> (New subscriptions, change of address, subscription
fulfillment matters)
2010 The Society for Historical Archaeology 3rd Class Postage Paid
The paper used in this publication
meets the minimum requirements of
the American National Standards for
Information Sciences--Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSIZ39.48-1984.
Winter 2010
local preservation, I would encourage
you to contact Terry Klein, chair of the
SHA Governmental Affairs Committee
(<tklein@srifoundation.org>), and offer
your assistance. For that matter, I would
encourage all of our members to review
the list of Standing and Presidential
Committees
(<http://www.sha.org/
about/committees.cfm>), and step up to
help in their work if you are not already
doing so. I would especially encourage
students to volunteer for committee work.
I guarantee that your fresh perspective
and enthusiasm will be welcomed and
there is no better way to get to know your
new profession than to participate in this
manner!
Shannon Lee Dawdy:
One of 23 New MacArthur
Fellows Announced
(Chicago, IL) — On September 28, 2010,
the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation named 23 new MacArthur
Fellows for 2010. Working across a broad
spectrum of endeavors, the Fellows include
a stone carver, a quantum astrophysicist, a
jazz pianist, a high school physics teacher,
a marine biologist, a theater director,
an American historian, a fiction writer,
an economist, and a computer security
scientist. All were selected for their
creativity, originality, and potential to make
important contributions in the future.
The recipients learned, through a phone
call out of the blue from the Foundation,
that they will each receive $500,000 in “no
strings attached” support over the next five
years. MacArthur Fellowships come without
stipulations and reporting requirements
and offer Fellows unprecedented freedom
and opportunity to reflect, create, and
explore. The unusual level of independence
afforded to Fellows underscores the spirit
of freedom intrinsic to creative endeavors.
The work of MacArthur Fellows knows
neither boundaries nor the constraints of
age, place, and endeavor.
“This group of Fellows, along with
the more than 800 who have come before,
reflects the tremendous breadth of creativity
among us,” said MacArthur President
Robert Gallucci. “They are explorers and
risk takers, contributing to their fields and
to society in innovative, impactful ways.
They provide us all with inspiration and
hope for the future.”
Shannon Lee Dawdy is an archaeologist
and anthropologist who links scholarship
with historical preservation to illuminate
the history of the Atlantic World since
Page 2
1450. In addition to work on the Southeast
United States and Caribbean, Dawdy
has produced insightful studies of
New Orleans from its establishment as
a French colony to the present day. In
Building the Devil’s Empire: French Colonial
New Orleans (2008), she integrates the
intellectual life of the community with the
story of the adventurers, entrepreneurs,
and smugglers who resisted governance,
providing a markedly expanded narrative
of the colonial dynamics and structure of
the region. Her recent fieldwork in New
Orleans, concentrating on the former site
of the Rising Sun Hotel and St. Antoine’s
Garden behind St. Louis Cathedral, is
the largest archaeological excavation
undertaken to date in the French Quarter.
These two sites are an important part of
her current project: an exploration of the
connections between aesthetics and social
life. Complementing her academic work,
Dawdy has also been a vocal advocate for
historical preservation. She served as special
liaison between the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and the Louisiana
State Historic Preservation Office to ensure
that recovery efforts in New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina remained cognizant
of the city’s singular archaeological
heritage. Through her boundary-crossing
scholarship, fieldwork, and efforts to
engage the public in uncovering the history
of their communities, Dawdy is enriching
the arenas of historical archaeology and
urban preservation.
Shannon Lee Dawdy received a B.A.
(1988) from Reed College, an M.A. (1994)
from the College of William and Mary, and
an M.A. (2000) and Ph.D. (2003) from the
University of Michigan. Since 2004, she has
been an assistant professor of anthropology
at the University of Chicago. She is the
author of numerous journal articles and
book chapters, as well as co-editor of
Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology (2005) and
Dumont de Montigny: Regards sur le monde
atlantique, 1715–1747 (2008).
Saint Mary’s College-University of Rhode Island
2011 Summer Field School in Maritime Archaeology
The Summer Field School in Maritime Archaeology is a joint research expedition conducted in Bermuda by faculty and students
of Saint Mary’s College of California and the University of Rhode Island. The field school is a research-based learning experience
that will expose students to a variety of activities, including archival research, artifact conservation, remote sensing survey, and
underwater documentation of historic shipwrecks.
The field school will run from 18 July to 9 August 2011. Classroom work related to maritime history and maritime archaeological
field methods will comprise the first week. Underwater research and documentation of 16th- and 17th-century shipwrecks will be
conducted in Bermuda during the subsequent two weeks. Students will receive three units of upper-division anthropology credit.
Course enrollment is limited. There are no academic prerequisites, but all participants in the field school must obtain both scuba
and AAUS certification prior to the beginning of the field school and must have their own diving equipment (no tanks or weights
required). While in Bermuda, students will participate in each of three research modules: laboratory training in the museum’s
conservation facility; archaeological survey and documentation of historic shipwrecks; and archival research in the Bermuda
Archives, located in the nearby city of Hamilton. In addition, students will attend periodic lectures on archival research methods
such as archaeological survey (magnetometer and visual survey), site excavation and mapping, analysis of archaeological data, and
conservation of waterlogged artifacts.
Application Procedures
For applications or additional information, please contact Professor James M. Allan of the Saint Mary’s College Anthropology
Department, <jallan@stmarys-ca.edu>, or Professor Roderick Mather of the University of Rhode Island History Department,
<roderick@uri.edu>, who are the co-directors of the program.
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 3
IMAGES OF THE PAST
Benjamin C. Pykles
Figure 1. Archaeological testing at Limerick Plantation, South Carolina, July 1977. Left to right, Michael A. Harmon, J. W. “Joe” Joseph,
and William Lees. There were as many dogs on this project as archaeologists; left to right, Lees’ dog Atoka (in the screen) and the two Golden
Retrievers—Beauregard and Plum—that belonged to the owners of Limerick Plantation (image courtesy of William Lees).
From South Carolina to SHA
Not surprisingly, those currently serving in leadership positions of the Society for Historical Archaeology have had wide-ranging
careers. In at least one instance, however, two of our current leaders—William Lees, SHA President, and Joe Joseph, editor of
Historical Archaeology—crossed paths early in their careers.
During the summer of 1977, the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology was contracted to survey the proposed
route of a new rail line being constructed by the South Carolina Public Railway Commission to serve factories and chemical plants
being erected in the vicinity of Charleston. The project went directly from testing to full-scale mitigation because the rail line went
through the early-18th-century main house at Limerick Plantation. At the time, Lees was taking a break from graduate studies at
Michigan State University for a one-year research assistantship at the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, where he was
assigned to work on the Limerick project. Joseph and Mike Harmon were specifically hired for the rail line survey and retained for
the three months of excavations that followed.
Limerick Plantation was one of the early rice plantations along the East Branch of the Cooper River, near Charleston, South Carolina.
Excavations at the plantation’s main house, kitchen, and at the site of an earlier 18th-century kitchen documented the evolution of
rice agriculture from upland to tidal marsh cultivation. Excavations also allowed for an interpretation of the ways the plantation’s
main settlement changed over time, from a fairly informal Colonial-era landscape to one that was characteristic of the more formal
arrangement of the Antebellum period. Among the publications resulting from this project was an article that appeared in volume 13
of Historical Archaeology (1979), in which was presented an analysis of the Colonowares unearthed at the plantation, with a particular
emphasis on their function. Significantly, this was among the earliest archaeological publications on Colonowares and contributed to
the debate concerning the origin of their manufacture.
After working on the Limerick Plantation project, each of the three men pursued successful but diverse careers in archaeology. Lees
is the Executive Director of Florida Public Archaeology Network at the University of West Florida, Joseph is the Vice President
for Administration and Project Manager at New South Associates in Georgia, and Harmon is an archaeologist with the U.S. Forest
Service, currently working out of the supervisor’s office of the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests, not far from Limerick
Plantation.
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 4
Velhos e Novos Mundos
Congresso Internacional de Arqueologia Moderna
Old and New Worlds
International Congress of Early Modern Archaeology
Faculty of Social Sciences and the Humanities
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Lisbon, Portugal
6–9 April 2011
The advent of the Early Modern Era triggered profound changes in the history of Europe. Urban development and increased
commercial exchange went hand in hand with the spread of new cultural ideas and paradigms, and major changes in religious
geography. All this occurred in a framework of political shifts that were often determined by wars, themselves determined/
transformed by a technical revolution in military art. It was also the era of the discovery of new worlds, and the first expansion of
modern globalization, with goods moving and being traded on a previously unknown geographical scale. The Iberian kingdoms
played a pioneering role in these transformations. The American, African, and Asian regions were now linked by lengthy sea voyages
that would have defied the imagination and technologies of earlier times. Furthermore, contacts with local populations led to different
types of political domination, economic exploitation, and cultural exchange, sometimes radically altering the existing patterns of life.
All of these themes have been studied by historians from many regions and of diverse origins, whose research has been based primarily
on written, cartographic, iconographic, or artistic sources. Archaeology is a recent discipline in much of the world as far as the study
of this period is concerned, and its contribution is still in its initial stages. However, only the continued development of early modern,
colonial and/or postmedieval archaeology will help shed light on many of these issues; in some cases it is the only available source of
information. Often, archaeological research does much to increase awareness of the intangible patrimonial value of the heritage of these
periods and paves the way for modern heritage development based on the economic importance of culture.
The aim of this Congress is to bring together both emerging and established archaeologists who have worked in academic or rescue
archaeology contexts relating to this period (15th – 18th centuries) in Europe and in colonized areas. The goal is not only to encourage
the development of early modern archaeology but also to establish bridges between the archaeological communities spread throughout
various parts of the world, particularly those concentrating their research on the Iberian kingdoms and their world expansion.
The Congress themes are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cities: urbanism, architecture, and daily life
Fortifications, battlefields, and arms
Religious buildings and burial practices
Maritime landscapes, ships, and life on board
The countryside: landscapes and production means
Ceramics: production, trade, and consumption
Submission of proposals for communications/posters should be sent to <coloquios.cham@fcsh.unl.pt>, by 31 January 2011, and should
include the following:
Name/Address/Phone/Email/Occupation/Institution
Title of presentation/poster
Abstract of presentation/poster (up to 300 words)
Curricular notes (up to 300 words)
Organizing Committee: André Teixeira, coord. (CHAM/FCSH-UNL)
Élvio Sousa (C. M. Machico/CHAM)
Inês Pinto Coelho (CHAM)
Isabel Cristina Fernandes (C. M. Palmela)
José Bettencourt (CHAM)
Patrícia Carvalho (CHAM)
Paulo Dórdio Gomes (ACE Baixo Sabor/CITCEM)
Severino Rodrigues (C. M. Cascais)
Scientific Committee:
Alejandra Gutierrez (Univ. Durham)
Carlos Etchevarne (Univ. F. Bahia)
Claúdio Torres (CAMértola)
Eric Rieth (Univ. Paris I)
Kathleen Deagan (Univ. Florida)
Marcos Albuquerque (Univ. F. Pernambuco)
Rosa Varela Gomes (FCSH-UNL/CHAM)
For more information visit the website:
<http://www.cham.fcsh.unl.pt/congresso_arqueologia_moderna/eng/congressointernacionalarqueologiamoderna_home.html>
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 5
Current Research
Please send summaries of your recent research to the appropriate geographical coordinator listed below. Photographs and other illustrations are encouraged. Please submit summaries as Word or textonly files. Submit illustrations as separate files (.jpeg preferred, 300 dpi or greater resolution).
AFRICA
Kenneth G. Kelly, University of South Carolina, <kenneth.kelly@sc.edu>
ASIA
Edward W. Gonzalez-Tennant, <gonzaleztennant.ed@gmail.com>
AUSTRALASIA AND ANTARCTICA
Susan Piddock, Flinders University, <spiddock@ozemail.com.au>
CANADA-ATLANTIC (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island)
Amanda Crompton, Memorial University of Newfoundland, <ajcrompt@mun.ca>
CANADA-ONTARIO
Jon K. Jouppien, <jouppien@niagara.com>
CANADA-PRAIRIE (Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Nunavut)
Jennifer Hamilton, Parks Canada, <jennifer.hamilton@pc.gc.ca>
CANADA-QUÉBEC
Stéphane Noël, Université Laval, <stephane.noel.2@ulaval.ca>
CANADA-WEST (Alberta, British Columbia)
Rod J. Heitzmann, Parks Canada, <rod.heitzmann@pc.gc.ca>
CARIBBEAN AND BERMUDA
Frederick H. Smith, College of William and Mary, <fhsmit@wm.edu>
CONTINENTAL EUROPE
Natascha Mehler, University of Vienna, <natascha.mehler@univie.ac.at>
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
James Symonds, University of York, <js1072@york.ac.uk>
MEXICO, CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
Pedro Paulo Funari, <ppfunari@uol.com.br>
MIDDLE EAST
Uzi Baram, New College of Florida, <baram@ncf.edu>
UNDERWATER (Worldwide)
Toni L. Carrell, Ships of Discovery, <tlcarrell@shipsofdiscovery.org>
USA-ALASKA
Doreen Cooper, R&D Consulting, <dccooper_99840@yahoo.com>
USA-CENTRAL PLAINS (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska)
Jay Sturdevant, National Park Service, <jay_sturdevant@nps.gov>
USA-GULF STATES (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas)
Kathleen H. Cande, Arkansas Archaeological Survey, <kcande@uark.edu>
USA-MID-ATLANTIC (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia)
Ben Resnick, GAI Consultants, <b.resnick@gaiconsultants.com>
USA-MIDWEST (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin)
Lynn L.M. Evans, Mackinac State Historic Parks, <EvansL8@michigan.gov>
USA-NORTHEAST (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont)
David Starbuck, <dstarbuck@frontiernet.net>
USA-NORTHERN PLAINS AND MOUNTAIN STATES (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming)
Steven G. Baker, Centuries Research, <sbaker@montrose.net>
USA-PACIFIC NORTHWEST (Idaho, Oregon, Washington)
Robert Cromwell, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, <Bob_Cromwell@nps.gov>
USA-PACIFIC WEST (California, Hawaii, Nevada)
Kimberly Wooten <kimberly_wooten@dot.ca.gov>
USA-SOUTHEAST (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee)
Gifford Waters, Florida Museum of Natural History, <gwaters@flmnh.ufl.edu>
USA-SOUTHWEST (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah)
Michael R. Polk, Sagebrush Consultants, <sageb@sagebrushconsultants.com>
CURRENT RESEARCH BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 6
Australasia and Antarctica
Susan Piddock
<spiddock@ozemail.com.au>
Antarctica
South American Research in Antarctica
(submitted by Pedro Paulo Funari): An
international team of archaeologists
recently carried out fieldwork in Antarctica,
sponsored by the Brazilian National Science
Foundation (CNPq) and the Argentine
Antarctica Program (PROANTAR). Andrés
Zarankin (Federal University of Minas
Gerais, Brazil) is leading the project, with
the assistance of Maria Ximena Senatore
(Buenos Aires University) and Ruben
Stehberg, head of the Chilean Antarctica
Archaeological Program. The team consists
of four archaeologists, two anthropologists,
and one keeper. The first season of
fieldwork was carried out in the Southern
Hemisphere summer of 2009/2010, the
main goals being to look for evidence
relating to transient workers and other
maritime visitors, particularly those less
well-known adventurers who stayed in
Antarctica the whole summer engaged in
activities such as the hunting of marine
animals. This project, with its goal of
exploring the rich experiences of ordinary
people in Antarctica, is thus charting a
path different from the often-encountered
approach of studying the narratives of elite
voyagers. It draws on 15 years of previous
Argentine archaeological exploration in the
region, as pioneered by Andrés Zarankin,
who, as mentioned above, is leading this
new international endeavor. The next field
season is scheduled for the summer of
2010/2011, in the South Shetland Islands.
Canada-Atlantic
Amanda Crompton
<ajcrompt@mun.ca>
Newfoundland and Labrador
Archaeology at Ferryland (reported by
James A. Tuck and Barry Gaulton, Department
of Archaeology, Memorial University): As
the 2010 field season winds down, and
rain and a northeast wind seem to be the
prevailing weather features, we are able to
summarize briefly the results of the season
(almost) past. Excavations were carried out
in three main locations: the southeastern
portion of the waterfront excavated
beginning in 1992, the defensive works
Volume 43: Number 4
which anchored the southeast corner of the
settlement, and a large deep profile that
was expanded westward from the main
area of settlement.
In the first area we (or rather one of the
students employed thanks to a generous
grant from Ben and Millie Benham of New
Mexico!) discovered a well-built stone wall
(Figure 1) that separates the waterfront
terrace from the higher terrace upon which
most of the dwellings, the forge, brewhouse,
stable, and so forth are located. There may
rails and trees seven feet tall and sharpened
at the top” which we cannot find. These
features are clear as far south as a major
bastion which anchored the defenses at the
southeast corner and for a short distance to
the west after they turn around the bastion.
After that, despite considerable trenching
with shovels and a mini-excavator, no
trace of the ditch, rampart, or palisade was
found. However, a small three-sided stone
structure, about eight feet on a side, was
discovered. It is not a fireplace (there is no
evidence of burning), and its function
remains obscure. It is filled with 18thcentury trash, probably from a nearby
tavern, but despite this material even its
age is not certain. Hopefully, excavations
in 2011 will provide some answers.
Finally, excavations continued at the
western edge of the second terrace (the
main living area) following the removal
of a house purchased by the Department
of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. The
profile increases in depth from south to
north from about 60 cm on the hill to the
south to more than two meters at the
northern end, closer to the inner harbor
known as The Pool. The upper layers
contain refuse from the 18th through
the 20th centuries. The 17th century is
represented by a deep midden from a
nearby house which we suspect may have
been built by Philip Kirke, the son of Sir
David and Lady Sara Kirke. Regardless
of exactly who lived there, it is clear from
the artifacts, especially the ceramics,
that it was a gentry family. There were
north Italian sgraffito vessels, bowls,
and plates bearing the initials “SK” and
clearly belonging to Lady Kirke, and so
much Portuguese tin-glazed pottery of
FIGURE 1. The well-built stone wall that separates
all forms and sizes that one researcher
the waterfront terrace from the higher terrace upon
from Lisbon said the site “looked like a
which most of the dwellings, the forge, brewhouse,
Portuguese settlement.”
stable, and so forth are located.
Beneath the 17th-century layers there
is evidence of migratory fishing crews.
be a third terrace, but thus far we have only Judging from the ceramics, almost all of
located a single structure where this level which originated in Brittany, the fishermen
would be. The whole village must have were almost entirely Bretons. Below that
resembled the small port towns of the West stratum are refuse deposits made by
Country with their layers of buildings and Beothuk Indians, consisting of arrowpoints
cobbled walkways, courtyards and work and waste flakes from their manufacture,
areas. Unfortunately, most of the terrace and a single Dorset Eskimo harpoon end
edge, as well as the north or south ends of a blade identical to others found to the west
number of structures, are concealed beneath in Trinity Bay.
the present paved road. Preliminary steps
Excavations are expected to resume in
are being taken to have the road rerouted, the spring of 2011. However, with a break in
but this will undoubtedly take some time.
the weather this fall, some of the questions
Aaron
Miller
(Ph.D.
candidate, left dangling at the end of the season will
Memorial University) continued his be answered.
attempt to locate the south wall of the
“palisado” that surrounded the 1621 Excavations at the North Range Soldiers’
settlement. The eastern fortifications Barracks, Signal Hill, St. John’s (reported by
include a ditch, rampart, and presumably Amanda Crompton): Signal Hill’s dominant
the wooden palisade made from “posts, position overlooking the harbor of St. John’s,
Winter 2010
Page 7
foundation for one of the
barracks’ four chimney stacks.
By the end of the season, though,
it was not clear whether we
had exposed the single-hearth
chimney base at the end of the
building, or a larger doublehearth chimney base from
the middle of the building.
Guided by the historic maps,
we attempted to locate the end
wall of the barracks, with little
success.
Thus, the goals of this
season’s excavations were to
resolve this uncertainty. The
first task was to locate a second
chimney base, and compare
its dimensions to the base
excavated in 2009. A series of
FIGURE 1. Excavating at the North Range Barracks site, on a
trenches uncovered the second
terrace at the summit of Signal Hill, overlooking the Atlantic
mortared-stone chimney base.
Ocean.
At over three meters wide (on its
north–south axis), the chimney
Newfoundland, assured that it would
base found this year was over a meter larger
become an important part of the defense of
than the base excavated in 2009 (Figure
the town that lay at its base. The process of
2). This suggested to us that the second
fortifying the summit of Signal Hill began
chimney base supported a double-hearth
at the end of the 18th century. The scale
fireplace, while the first chimney base,
of fortifications increased throughout the
which was narrower, supported a singlefollowing century, until the military was
hearth fireplace. This in turn indicated that
withdrawn from St. John’s in 1870.
the first chimney base was indeed located
For the third season in a row, students
near the end of the building, where the
participated in Memorial University’s
historic maps showed the single-hearth
Archaeology Field School at Signal Hill
fireplace. Accordingly, we opened a large
National Historic Site. This project is
trench near the 2009 excavations in the hope
a joint venture between Parks Canada
of locating the end wall of the structure.
and Memorial University; both of these
Our trench encountered unexpectedly deep
institutions provided funding, logistical
(and frustratingly compacted) deposits
support, and assistance. This season, we
that had clearly been disturbed during
returned to the North Range Barracks site
the construction of a gun emplacement
(1A51), which is located on the top of Signal
during the Second World War. Over a
Hill, on a terrace just below Ladies’ Lookout
meter below the present ground surface,
(Figure 1). This was a British soldiers’
we finally located the southwest corner of
barracks, used from 1799 to approximately
the barracks building. Only the bottom two
1842. After this point, the building’s use is
or three courses of stone were intact, but
not clear, but it was certainly abandoned by
1870, and likely collapsed after
1880 (Candow 1979).
This site was tested in
1984 by archaeologists Robert
Ferguson and Martha Drake,
and was excavated intensively
by the 2009 Memorial University
Archaeology
Field
School
(Ferguson 1986). These field
seasons determined that the
site preserved several features
that could be associated with
the barracks. Comparisons with
extant historic maps indicated
that excavations had uncovered
one external stone wall of the
barracks, as well as a rectangular FIGURE 2. The south face of the double-hearth stone
stone base which formed the chimney base.
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
fortunately the interior deposits below this
level remain undisturbed.
The 2010 excavations uncovered
rich deposits of artifacts and ecofacts,
representing the remains of items stored
(and discarded) in the building’s cellar.
These provisions, utensils, and personal
goods would have been the property of
military personnel of varying backgrounds:
officers (who resided in the building for a
time), convalescent veterans (for whom
this was a residence for a short while), and
infantry soldiers and their families, who
FIGURE 3. A plate from a shako-type hat,
bearing the insignia of the 99th Regiment, in
situ.
also lived in the barracks building.
The substantial artifact collection
includes ceramics, bottle glass, and tobacco
pipe fragments consistent with a 19thcentury occupation. The majority of the
ceramics are typical early- to mid-19thcentury types, including undecorated
creamware, decorated pearlware, and
decorated whiteware. We also uncovered
buttons and other uniform-related artifacts
marked with insignia of various regiments,
some of which were not known to be in
Newfoundland (Figure 3). We suspect that
the latter examples probably represent
the use of surplus supplies or informal
exchange between soldiers rather than
the undocumented presence of regiments.
Research on the insignia displayed on the
buttons and on the maker’s marks found
on the reverse of some fully support the
dates derived for the site thus far. We also
found other personal belongings, such as
clay marbles and ceramic plate fragments
with initials scratched into them. Another
curious find was the mouthpiece of a
ceramic whistle, with a roughly cut finger
hole remaining. After the artifact was
cleaned in the lab, we determined that the
whistle was still functional and it emitted a
Page 8
piercing noise when used.
Ecofacts were recovered from the cellar
deposits as well, though they remain largely
unidentified and unquantified. At this
point, we can say that this part of the site
contains abundant faunal material (which
appears to have preserved very well), but
little in the way of paleoethnobotanical
remains (for which there is apparently poor
preservation). The faunal remains certainly
demonstrate that that the cellar was used for
storage of food supplies. Initial information
derived during cataloging suggests the
assemblage contains plentiful mammal and
fish bone. The discovery of rat bones and
rodent-gnawed bones suggest that rodent
infestation was likely a problem in the
barracks.
In the end, we hope to achieve a
better understanding of the world of the
British soldier in Newfoundland. Life
on the exposed summit of Signal Hill, in
constrained living quarters, presented more
than the usual complement of problems for
the soldiers garrisoned there. To this end,
we will combine further artifact analysis
and research in the Provincial Archives to
further draw out their story. For further
details, please visit our site blog at <https://
signalhillarchaeology.wordpress.com/>.
Island is an 18th-century Inuit sod house
settlement which was identified during the
1960s but has received little attention since.
According to a 1776 census this dwelling
was occupied by a woman named Mikak.
Her life story is significant in the history
of Labrador as she was very influential in
securing British land grants to the Moravian
missionaries (who established their first
mission in Nain in 1771) and she was also
heavily involved in the coastal baleen trade
network. My goals for this season were to
map the site and surrounding area and test
excavate portions of the house to determine
the length and nature of occupation.
My crew and I began by clearing out
the dense vegetation and overgrowth.
A light covering of mosses, berries, and
grasses is present on the island; the interior
of the house structures by contrast were
filled with dense willow and alder shrubs.
Once cleared, it became obvious that the
settlement consisted of two sod houses
rather than one large bilobed structure
(Figure 1). We set up the total station to
begin making a detailed contour map of the
cove and once that was complete we set to
work mapping the house structures.
Once we finished mapping we set up
our first test trench (1 x 4 m) in House 1.
Excavations revealed large wooden beams
References
that resembled roof collapse and later we
came down upon some flat wooden planks
Candow, James
laid over a paving-stone floor. Very few
1979
A Structural and Narrative History artifacts were recovered from this trench
of Signal Hill National Historic Park and Area with the exception of some pipe stem and
to 1945. Parks Canada, Ottawa.
bowl fragments, small pieces of ceramic,
bottle glass, and a musket ball. Our next four
Ferguson, Robert
units were placed in the entrance tunnel of
1986
An Archaeological Inventory of House 1, leading into House 2. Here we
Signal Hill National Historic Park, St. John’s, found large pieces of cut whalebone but
Newfoundland, 1984. Parks Canada, Ottawa. other than that the artifact assemblage
was similar to that of the trench in House
Black Island, Labrador (reported by Amelia 1. Our next trench (1 x 4 m) was placed
Fay, Department of Archaeology, Memorial in House 2, perpendicular to the entrance
University): The summer of 2010 was the tunnel of House 1. The top layers in this
first season of my Ph.D. research on Black trench appear to be midden from House 1,
Island, northern Labrador. The site on Black under which we found whalebone handles,
beads of varying colors, large pieces
of creamware, baleen, and pipe stem
and bowl fragments. This trench
yielded much less wood than did the
trench in House 1, and the paving
stones were flat pieces of basalt with
beautiful Labradorite inclusions.
It appears that House 1 was
built later and perhaps borrowed
structural elements from House 2.
We found the use of test trenches
(Figure 2), rather than full-scale
excavation, problematic due to the
inability to get a good sense of what is
going on. Here the primary problem
FIGURE 1. The site at Black Island, northern is that we encountered overlapping
Labrador.
occupations, with one dwelling
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
FIGURE 2. Sod house under excavation.
having been built partially on top of the
other. My goal for next season is to return to
Black Island to completely excavate House
2 and, time permitting, excavate another
trench in House 1. I plan to go back with a
larger crew in 2011 in order to complete my
research goals.
Nova Scotia
Grand Pré National Historic Site (reported
by Rob Ferguson, Parks Canada): Work
continued on an unidentified stone feature
described in the summer 2010 Newsletter,
with three weeks of excavation by the Saint
Mary’s University field school under the
direction of Dr. Jonathan Fowler, SMU, and
Rob Ferguson, Parks Canada, taking place
in May. This was followed by two weeks of
a public archaeology program directed by
Ferguson in July. The feature is located near
the western edge of a memorial building
built in 1922.
The stone alignment was originally
thought to be the footing for a large
building, possibly the 17th- to 18th-century
Acadian church of Saint-Charles-des-Mines.
In fact, it turned out to be a loose array of
stones laid over the top of a drainage trench
(Figures 1 and 2). The trench appears to
have been built by a New England Planter,
or settler, towards the end of the 18th
century. Ceramics recovered from in and
around the trench are predominantly of
creamware style, with other material types
fitting a late-18th- to early-19th-century
time frame. It suggests the presence of a
Planter house site in the area. A stone-
Page 9
deposits. This testing was undertaken in
preparation for more intensive fieldwork
planned for the summer of 2011.
FIGURE 2. Stéphane Noël exposing the stone
lining of the drain. (Photo by Rob Ferguson,
Parks Canada.)
<http://grandpre.wordpress.com/>. An
article on the site is one of fifteen chapters
on historic and precontact Nova Scotian
sites in a new publication, Underground
Archaeology, edited by Jonathan Fowler and
Paul Erickson, Nimbus Publishing, 2010.
FIGURE 1. Overview of drainage trench and
stone cover at Grand Pré National Historic
Site. (Photo by Jonathan Fowler, Saint Mary’s
University.)
filled pit, which may be the cellar of the
house, is indicated at the southern edge of
the excavations and awaits excavation. A
cluster of pewter spoons and bone-handled
forks immediately outside the pit supports
a domestic function.
Closer to the memorial building, the field
school uncovered a probable well. Artifacts
in this area include a mix of Planter- and
Acadian-period artifacts, though again the
former predominate. Excavation into the
well has been deferred.
Graduate students Christina Fry
(Calgary University) and Stéphane Noël
(Université de Laval), employed through
Young Canada Works, facilitated these
program throughout the summer. They
also added to last year’s blog of the site:
Volume 43: Number 4
A Little Bit of History
The hamlet which would come to be
known as the Melanson Settlement NHS
was founded by Charles Melanson and
Marie Dugas, shortly after their marriage
in 1664. Between ca. 1664 and ca. 1693,
the Melanson couple had 14 children; 8 of
their children established households in the
settlement between the late 17th century
and 1755. The settlement also included
the family of Jean Roy dit Laliberté,
who was probably an employee of the
Melansons. In 1755, the British began the
deportation of the Acadian population,
and the Melanson settlement was most
likely burnt to the ground. According to
previous archaeological investigations and
historical documentation, the site does not
seem to have been reoccupied after the 1755
expulsion. Apparently only light farming
and grazing of animals took place on the
site from the mid-18th to the 20th century
(Crépeau and Dunn 1986; Dunn 2007).
Previous Research at the Site
From 1984 to 1986, Andrée Crépeau led
excavations at the site. In total, 18 different
features were recorded, including cellar
remains, circular building remains, small
circular mounds, small circular depressions,
and various unknown features (which
could be houses, barns, storage sheds,
dairies, windmills, dovecotes, pigsties,
bread ovens, wells, or other outbuildings).
Crépeau tested three cellar depressions and
completely excavated one of them (Crépeau
and Dunn 1986).
Archaeological Survey and Testing at the
Melanson Settlement National Historic
Site, Nova Scotia (submitted by Stéphane
Noël, Ph.D. student, Laboratoires d’archéologie
de l’Université Laval, Québec City): In October
2010, I undertook one week of fieldwork at
the Melanson Settlement National Historic
Site (NHS), about eight kilometers west of
Annapolis Royal, on the north shore of the
Annapolis Basin (Figures 1 and 2). I was
assisted in the field by two fantastic and
hard-working archaeologists, Anne-Marie Site Survey and Archaeological Testing
Faucher
and
Rob Ferguson.
This
project
was undertaken
as part of my
doctoral research
on
Acadian
foodways
at
Université Laval.
The fieldwork
had two main
objectives:
(1)
to
re-locate
all
previously
k n o w n
archaeological
features
and
record
new
features; and (2)
to test around FIGURE 1. General location of the Melanson Settlement NHS and Annapolis
cellar features for Royal. (Source: Google Maps.)
potential midden
Winter 2010
Page 10
60 cm deep. We stopped the excavation at
about one meter below surface, as there
was no indication that the bousillage layer
would end. Some fragments were as large
as 20 cm and bore very clear impressions of
salt marsh hay (Figure 3).
Household of Jean Roy dit Laliberté and Marie
Aubois
We also tested a cellar feature which historic
maps (from 1708 and 1710) indicate could
be attributed to the household of Jean Roy
dit Laliberté and Marie Aubois (4). Jean
Roy probably moved his family from Cape
Sable (Nova Scotia) to Melanson due to
the influence of his employer’s wife, Anne
Melanson, daughter of the settlement’s
founder.
A 1706 entry in the parish records of
Cape Sable described Marie Aubois as an
FIGURE 2. Aerial view of the Melanson
Aboriginal woman, while Jean Roy dit
Settlement NHS area (circled). (Photo courtesy
Laliberté was believed to be of African
of Nova Scotia Dept. of Natural Resources.)
descent (the 1686 census of Cape Sable
We first re-located all previously known identified him as “Laliberté Le Neigre”).
features and new GPS coordinates were According to historic records, the Roy
taken for them. Three new features were family had no land in cultivation and
recorded and shovel tested. Two features very little livestock. Documenting such
were roughly circular mounds, located a household archaeologically could
about 35 m from each other. Tests at one prove extremely interesting in terms of
mound yielded a great deal of bousillage the socioeconomic dynamics and ethnic
(a mixture of clay and hay used to fill or identity in the settlement.
We excavated 12 shovel tests on every
enclose a log structure) and charred wooden
planks, which confirms the mound’s side of the supposed Roy cellar. The exterior
architectural origins, though the exact limits of the cellar depression are about 6.5
function of this building is unknown. At the x 5.5 m and are oriented east–west; there
seems to be the collapse
of a chimney, hearth,
or oven at the west end
of the cellar. We found
no diagnostic Acadian
artifacts. Rather, we
found a few sherds
of
creamware
and
pearlware in at least
three test pits close to
the cellar. The presence
of ceramics that postdate
the 1755 deportation and
the absence of Acadian
artifacts suggest that
this part of the site could
actually have been used
or reused by the New
FIGURE 3. Large fragment of charred bousillage. (Photo by Stéphane England Planters who
Noël.)
settled the area from ca.
1760 to 1780.
second mound, testing was inconclusive,
yielding very little in the way of artifacts
or architectural debris. More testing at both
mounds is required to better understand the
nature and function of these features. The
third new feature is a small circular mound,
about three m in diameter. Testing at this
mound produced an impressive amount of
burnt bousillage fragments in a layer over
Volume 43: Number 4
Household of Alexandre Robichaud and Anne
Melanson
The second house we tested should have
been occupied by the family of Anne
Melanson, according to the 1708 map of the
site. Anne Melanson’s first husband, Jacques
de Saint-Étienne de La Tour, had passed
away by this time and she had remarried, to
Winter 2010
Alexandre Robichaud. In 1720, Robichaud
was chosen to be a deputé (representative)
to mediate between the British government
and the Acadians. The household consisted
of Anne’s four children from her marriage
to La Tour, and five daughters from her
marriage to Robichaud (Dunn 2007).
Our objective at this site was to locate
a midden deposit associated with the
cellar feature. The soils in Nova Scotia
are generally acidic, which reduces the
FIGURE 4. Part of “Plan de la Banlieue du fort
Royal a Lacadie Et de ses Environs” drawn by
Delabat in 1708 (LNA, National Map Collection,
VI/249/Annapolis R/(1708) (1926)).
preservation of organic materials and
bones. However, the Crépeau excavations
in 1984–1986 discovered a midden rich in
shells and bones, and this encouraged us to
look for other middens at the site. Our test
pits on each side of the cellar yielded 17thand early-18th-century artifacts commonly
encountered on Acadian domestic sites, such
as sherds of Staffordshire slipware, AngloAmerican coarse earthenware (CEW),
Rhenish stoneware, and English salt-glazed
stoneware, along with some fragments of
bousillage. No diagnostic postexpulsion
(post-1755) artifacts were found. The last
test pit, located about four meters southeast
of the cellar, yielded a 20 cm thick black
organic loam which had a large quantity of
broken-up clam shells, with some mammal,
bird, and fish bones throughout (Figure
5). This is a very promising site for next
summer’s fieldwork.
Household of Jean Belliveau and Madeleine
Melanson
Buoyed by our success in finding this
midden, we began coring (using a 30 cm
long hand-held corer) around the supposed
cellar of the residence of Jean Belliveau and
Madeleine Melanson. The footprint of this
building is larger than other features on
the site. The building would have been
Page 11
at least three middens rich in
shells, bones, and artifacts.
Next summer’s more intensive
excavations
will
certainly
produce ample data to get a better
understanding of pre-expulsion
Acadian foodways, and how the
people at the Melanson Settlement
appropriated the landscape and
used the environment around
their settlement.
References
Crépeau, A. and B. Dunn
1986 The Melanson Settlement:
FIGURE 5. Cellar of Alexandre Robichaud’s and Anne An Acadian Farming Community
Melanson’s house (Feature 11) with test pit in foreground, (ca. 1664–1755). Canadian Parks
looking west. (Photo by Rob Ferguson.)
Service Research Bulletin, 250.
Parks Canada, Ottawa.
approximately 13 by 7 m, with a roughly
square cellar depression in the western Dunn, B.
half measuring about 4 by 5 m and about 2007 History of the Melanson Settlement:
1.5 m deep. On the east side of the cellar An Acadian Settlement. Manuscript, Parks
is a footing and what may be the remains Canada, Atlantic Service Center, Halifax,
of a central chimney (Crépeau and Dunn Nova Scotia.
1986:8).
Belliveau and Melanson would have Archaeological Assessments in Nova
married sometime in the 1690s and were Scotia (submitted by Laura de Boer, Davis
probably living back in the Melanson MacIntyre & Associates Limited, Dartmouth,
settlement by 1701. Jean Belliveau died Nova Scotia):
in 1707, and his widow never remarried,
raising her four children here by herself. Her Cape Sable Island Breakwater Assessments
home was burnt by the English in 1707, but In June 2010 Davis MacIntyre & Associates
she seems to have rebuilt it by 1710 (Dunn Limited conducted archaeological resource
2007:29). As was the case with Robichaud’s impact assessments of three proposed
cellar, we found a black organic soil with breakwater structures on Cape Sable Island,
shell and charcoal inclusions a few meters Shelburne County: the South Side Groyne
southeast of the feature. We then opened Extension, the Stoney Island Breakwater
a test pit, which yielded a large amount Extension, and the Cripple Creek
of clam shells and bones, in a 35 cm thick Breakwater Construction (Figure 1). The
organic layer. Again, we found artifacts assessments included historic background
common in late-17th- and 18th-century studies and preliminary reconnaissance.
Acadian contexts, such as Anglo-American The background studies revealed that the
CEW and Saintonge CEW, as well as bottle island was occupied by First Nations peoples
glass, pipe bowl and stem fragments, sheet prior to historic European occupation
iron, nails, and bousillage chunks.
in the 17th through 20th centuries. The
Cellar Feature 4: Unknown Occupants
We tested another cellar feature (Feature 4),
which at present cannot be associated with
a specific occupation. Again, we first used
the corer to locate black organic soil. A core
southeast of the house indicated a pattern
of midden deposition similar to what we
had found elsewhere. We opened a test
pit, which yielded a large amount of shell
and bone and late-17th- and 18th-century
artifacts: Anglo-American CEW, Saintonge
CEW, and sherds of an English salt-glazed
stoneware jug. This cellar, too, offers good
potential for next summer’s excavations.
In conclusion, this past October’s short
field season was a resounding success. We
recorded three new features and found
Volume 43: Number 4
reconnaissance showed that all three sites
rested chiefly on disturbed fill and were
of low archaeological potential. However,
the surrounding landscape, consisting of
dunes, white sand beaches, and forest,
is known to contain sites of interest and
significance from both historic and preContact-period activity. Construction of
the breakwaters will disturb no part of the
landscape that has not already been heavily
disturbed by modern construction, and as
a result no further active mitigation was
recommended for any of the three sites.
Railway Bridge Assessments
In July 2010, Davis MacIntyre & Associates
Limited conducted archaeological resource
impact assessments of three railway
bridges scheduled for demolition in
Annapolis and Digby Counties: Bear River
Railway Bridge (Figure 2), Moose River
Railway Bridge, and Sissiboo Railway
FIGURE 2. Archival image of a locomotive
(probably the “Flying Bluenose”) crossing the
Bear River railway bridge. (Photo courtesy of the
Smith’s Cove Old Temperance Hall Museum.)
Bridge. The assessments included historic
background studies and reconnaissance
surveys. Background research showed
that all bridges were originally constructed
from wood in the latter half of the 19th
century, and were replaced in the early 20th
century with steel structures. The
reconnaissance showed that the
soil surrounding the abutments of
all three bridges consisted chiefly
of fill. However, the land around
the western abutment of the
Sissiboo Bridge was determined
to be of moderate archaeological
potential for First Nations
activities, and archaeological
testing and monitoring have been
recommended should the bridge
demolition
activities
include
ground disturbance on the western
side.
FIGURE 1. Photo of the shoreline at Cripple Creek on Cape
Sable Island.
Winter 2010
St. Mary’s Trail Assessment
In July 2010, Davis MacIntyre
Page 12
& Associates Limited conducted an
archaeological resource impact assessment
of the proposed St. Mary’s Trail from
Aspen to Cameron Lakes in Guysborough
County. The St. Mary’s Trail Association
plans to refurbish the trail and open it for
public recreation. The trail itself rests on
the unfinished rail bed of the Guysborough
Railway, which began construction in the
late 1920s but abandoned the project due
to lack of funding before the rails were
laid. Several bridges were planned, but
the concrete piers were abandoned before
structure and surfacing allowed them to
be traversable. DM&A surveyed a 6.4 km
stretch of the trail and did not locate any
archaeological sites or areas of elevated
potential. The trail’s refurbishment
involves minimal soil disturbance, and thus
no further recommendations were made.
The St. Mary’s Trail Association intends to
include more of the trail in a later survey
once sufficient funds are raised.
King’s Wharf Assessment, Dartmouth
In June of 2010 Davis MacIntyre &
Associates were contracted to complete
a background study and to conduct
archaeological monitoring of the ongoing
construction activities in Dartmouth,
Halifax County, related to the proposed
King’s Wharf development complex. The
complex is being constructed on the site of
the former Dartmouth Marine Slipways,
near the termination of the Shubenacadie
Canal. A great deal of the land consists of
fill deposited since the 19th century, and
much of it is contaminated with diesel
and other industrial byproducts related
to ship construction. A great deal of this
contamination occurred during World War
Two, when pressure to construct ships as
quickly as possible outweighed the need
for proper disposal methods. Two vessel
hulls, possibly those of the ferries that once
crossed the harbor, are known to have been
intentionally sunk as part of the infilling
process. These vessels were not uncovered
during construction, as building methods
on-site involved driving steel pillars into
the ground to support a concrete pad
beneath each building, rather than risk
large-scale excavation in contaminated soil.
Monitoring is ongoing in the event that
significant archaeological resources are
identified and potentially disturbed.
Muggah Creek Shipwreck
In August of 2010, Davis MacIntyre
& Associates Limited conducted an
archaeological resource impact assessment
of the shipwreck resting on the northern
shore of Muggah Creek in the Sydney Tar
Ponds, Cape Breton. Despite extensive
research and consultation, the wreck could
Volume 43: Number 4
not be firmly identified as any vessel on
record at the Maritime Museum of the
Atlantic, the Heritage Division, the Beaton
Institute, or the Nova Scotia Archives. The
wreck was thoroughly photographed and
sections were measured and drawn for
posterity, as the wreck will be destroyed
prior to the solidification process scheduled
to take place in the northern tar pond in the
coming months (Figure 3). Archaeologists
spent a week on-site, working on the wreck
at low tide in full safety equipment and
Tyvek suits. The wreck consisted mostly of
wood, held together with an unusually high
number of wrought-iron spikes. Although
several ship’s knees remained in place, the
deck and much of the hull was rotted away,
and all wood below the high tide mark
was impregnated with coal tar. A part of
FIGURE 3. Illustration of the bow construction
of the Muggah Creek shipwreck.
the vessel remained covered by the slag
shoreline, which has been shown through
historical records to have extended outward
through dumping to meet the wreck in the
mid-20th century. The wreck’s presence
prior to 1948 could not be confirmed, but
the wreck appears to date to the late 19th
or early 20th century, and originally had a
central mast. It is speculated that the vessel
was once used for sailing, but at the end
of its life was stripped down and used as
a coal barge before its final abandonment
at what was then the middle of the mouth
of Muggah Creek. It was recommended
that a professional archaeologist be present
during the removal of the vessel in order to
better determine the full size of the hulk. It
is also expected that more wrecks like this
are present below the thick slag fill that
Winter 2010
encompasses many acres to the north of the
Tar Ponds.
Prince Edward Island
Port La Joye/Fort Amherst National
Historic Site (reported by Rob Ferguson, Parks
Canada): The University of Prince Edward
Island Archaeological Field School held
its second season at this site in June, 2010,
under the direction of Dr. Richard Forsyth,
UPEI, and myself. Building on last year’s
excavations, the project had two goals: to
expand on a brick-and-wood feature in the
area of the French garrison, and to complete
excavation of the Haché-Gallant cellar.
In the garrison site, the expanded
area revealed a broad area of rubble but
no actual structural remains. However, a
random test pit by two graduate students
(Noël and Fry of the Grand Pré project),
located a flagstone floor, probably from the
garrison storehouse. Identification of the
building will allow us to establish limits
of the fort and location of other buildings
identified on historical plans. Twenty years
of historical research, geophysical survey,
and archaeological survey strategy, and
our first success comes from a random test
pit. I am left to deal with the hubris of two
graduate students who confounded us all.
At the Haché-Gallant site, we removed
the last quadrant of the cellar fill. The rest of
the cellar had been excavated in 1987–1988
by Parks Canada archaeologists under my
direction. Michel Haché-Gallant, formerly
a resident of Beaubassin in Acadia, was
the first Acadian to settle on the island,
joining settlers from France in 1720, and is
the ancestor of the largest Acadian family
on PEI today. The cellar has been cut into
the soft sandstone bedrock. Walls are thus
irregular, but a square cut in the floor
suggests that it had either wooden walls or
a wooden floor. Artifacts reflect a 1720–1745
occupation period.
Stanhope, PEI National Park (submitted
by Rob Ferguson): Rob Ferguson, Parks
Canada, directed a week-long excavation
in a late-18th-century house, working
with volunteers of the Stanhope Historical
Society. This work follows a one-week
excavation at the site in 2008. The site is
likely the residence of the Bovyer family,
Loyalists from Rhode Island who took
over management of a large flax plantation
owned by Sir James Montgomery. The
former manager, David Lawson, had
been fired for mismanagement of money.
Lawson, one of the original Scottish settlers
in the area in 1770, had built a large log
dwelling 70 x 20 feet. Correspondence to
Montgomery indicates that the Bovyers
acquired the house.
Page 13
school, a requirement for the completion of
the undergraduate archaeology program at
Université Laval. They were separated into
two teams each led by a graduate student,
under the supervision of a field assistant
and Dr. Allison Bain. Working from 10
May until 11 June, the undergraduates got
their hands dirty, this being the first field
experience for most of them.
Located in the courtyard of the Second
Intendant’s Palace (1716–1760), this year’s
unit (operation 65), measuring 11 by 7 m
(Figure 2), was positioned to overlap with
operations 61 and 63, which were excavated
in 2008 and 2009, respectively. These
previous excavations, also part of Université
Laval’s field school, identified a number of
FIGURE 1. Excavations at the Stanhope site,
Prince Edward Island.
A trench was placed from the upper
edge of the cellar to the center to expose
structural features. There was no evidence
of a footing for the building or of a cellar
wall, but a flagstone floor was revealed
at the bottom. Two test pits were placed
outside the depression, expanding on a
midden deposit located in 2008. Artifacts
recovered from the midden and from the
cellar indicate a tight occupation span in the
late 18th to early 19th centuries. Ceramics
are dominated by undecorated creamwares,
with some hand-painted pearlwares,
agatewares, and scattered sherds of a black
Basaltes teapot. An iron file was recovered
from the cellar floor.
Canada-Québec
Stéphane Noël
<stephane.noel.2@ulaval.ca>
Université Laval’s 2010 Field School:
Excavations at the Intendant’s Palace
Site in Québec City, Québec (submitted
by Frédéric Dussault and Martin Fields, M.A.
candidates, Université Laval, Québec City):
Université Laval’s field school in Québec
City was back at the îlot des Palais site in the
spring of 2010. Located in the Lower Town
and just below the historic district, the site
is an excellent example of complex urban
historical archaeology (Figure 1). Primarily
known for having been the administrative
hub of the colony during the French Regime,
it was also home to Canada’s first brewery
and possibly a small shipyard. A total of nine
undergraduate students attended the field
Volume 43: Number 4
FIGURE 1. Location of the Intendant’s Palace
in Québec City.
centuries. Circa 1750 the intertidal zone
would have extended out to the Intendant’s
Palace site. Determining whether or not the
organic levels found in 2008 were fill for a
small pond was the secondary objective of
this year’s dig.
The paved courtyard was found about
a meter underneath various 19th- and 20thcentury fill levels related to the Boswell
brewery. While the first levels under the
pavement seem to be backfill related to the
partial burning of the palace in 1725, deeper
levels appear to be sediments that were dug
during the construction of its foundations
in 1714. The artifacts from these levels were
fragmented but very well preserved due
to the high water table: leather was still
flexible and metal was often in pristine
condition. However, wood was by far
the most common find: 5000 pieces were
counted in four levels over an area of 10
m2. About six hundred of these pieces had
visible cut or saw marks.
The northern part of Operation 65
contained a different sequence of levels.
Several interesting discoveries were made,
which shed light on the transformation of
the natural landscape where the Europeans
settled. The paving stones found across the
operation were partially removed in 2008
and 2009 (Figure 3). The remains of the
pavement still in place, combined with the
new sections exposed this spring, enabled
us to assess a slope that appears to have
drained water away from the palace walls
and to have concentrated it in a gutterlike structure found in 2008. This structure
would have prevented the accumulation
of water in the courtyard. The different
sections of the pavement are linked
physically, but interestingly enough they
are linked also by a particular artifact that
was found on layers on top of the paving
stones. Fragments of dipped Jasperware
(1775–present) were found in adjacent
operations; several of them went together
and we were able to mend them.
elements worth documenting in greater
detail. First of these was a paved courtyard
associated with the Second Intendant’s
Palace. Although construction began on the
building sometime between 1714
and 1716, the courtyard was not
paved until ca. 1750. Identifying
the dimensions of this paved
surface was a primary research
goal this year. Excavations
under this pavement in 2008
revealed a succession of organic
layers dating from the 17th and
18th centuries which may have
been accumulated on the banks
of the St. Charles River or on a
small pond which is visible on
certain maps from this period.
The Lower Town, near the
mouth of the St. Charles River,
has undergone extensive land FIGURE 2. Intendant’s Palace and the archaeological
reclamation over the last three operation. (Photo by Frédéric Dussault.)
Winter 2010
Page 14
organic material that was
found in subsequent layers.
The
Intendant’s
Palace
was therefore located in
the intertidal zone near the
junction of the St. Charles
and St. Lawrence rivers, and
was built atop a thick layer of
wood debris and material that
was encased in marine clay.
A similar profile was found
near Québec City on the St.
Lawrence River in the town
of Montmagny. There, the
layering of glacial and fluvial
FIGURE 3. Pavement dating from ca. 1750, with previously clays and the accumulation
removed sections. (Photo by Frédéric Dussault.)
of vegetation is very similar
to our exposed profiles. The
Montmagny
profile
was
During the 2010 excavations we
uncovered a new section of wall found interpreted as a series of natural layers and
at the northern limit of the operation and its similarity to ours suggests that our layers
identified in 2008. At that time, it was are also natural in origin. This hypothesis
thought to have been a corridor that linked will be tested with a wood sample sent for
the main wing of the palace to its western carbon dating, and it will clarify the exact
wing. A letter written on 30 September nature of the deposit.
This year’s field season allowed us
1729 by Chaussegros de Léry allows us
to formulate this interpretation: “Ôter le to assess the extent of two structures that
mur et le corridor en dehors du bâtiment were found in previous years. It also
adossé contre que Mr Dupuy a fait faire helped to clarify some questions about the
qui commence au bas de la grande porte, environment of this sector of the Lower
et va dans la cave aux herbes et au flanc du Town of Québec City and the use of the
pavillon du sud-ouest”
(Chaussegros de Léry
1729). He complains
about the work to be done
on the palace following
the removal of ClaudeThomas Dupuy as the
Intendant, and says that
the outside corridor,
linking the western wing
and the main entrance,
needs to be destroyed.
The paving stones
mentioned above were
laid over a thick layer of
grayish-blue clay that was
interspersed with sand,
forming a knoll near the
walls of the palace. This
mound appears to be
FIGURE 4. Map showing the tides at the Intendant’s Palace in
man-made, and served
1771. (Gage Papers, Clements Library, University of Michigan,
both to support the
Ann Arbor.)
palace foundations and
drain water away from
Palace courtyard. Next year’s field school
the walls.
The last modification to the site could very well return to the same area
discovered was a one meter thick layer of in the hopes of better understanding the
sand over the entire unit. This was thought organic levels found in the southern half of
to have been laid down to prevent the the operation.
spring high tides from flooding the Palace
courtyard. These tides are shown on a Reference
map drawn by John Marr in 1771 (Figure
4) and could have been responsible for Chaussegros de Léry, Gaspard-Joseph
Devis des ouvrages nécessaires pour
the accumulation of wood debris and 1729
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
mettre le Palais en l’état qu’il doit être et pour
qu’il soit moins sujet à brûler, Chaussegros
de Léry, 30 septembre 1729, Archives
nationales du Canada, C11A 51, fol.213215v.
Continental Europe
Natascha Mehler
<natascha.mehler@univie.ac.at>
Austria
Recent Archaeology at the Former
Concentration Camp of Mauthausen,
Austria (submitted by Claudia Theune,
<claudia.theune@univie.ac.at>): The former
Second World War concentration camp
of Mauthausen, in Austria, is now a
place of memorial undergoing a process
of
interpretive
reconceptualization;
this process includes historical and
archaeological research. The concentration
camp of Mauthausen was built in the
summer of 1938, and was intended for
Austrian prisoners forced to labor in the
nearby granite quarry. Many died from the
hard conditions and malnutrition, or were
simply killed by the SS guards. Others were
murdered in the gas chamber. However,
Mauthausen was not an extermination
camp.
After the war (probably as early as 1947),
the concentration camp was handed back
to Austria by the Soviet Union (which was
occupying this portion of eastern Austria)
under the condition that the Austrian
authorities erect a memorial. The main goal
in the immediate aftermath of the war was
to present two main interpretive areas: the
place where prisoner roll calls took place,
and the functional buildings of the SS (the
wash house, kitchen, detention building,
and hospital) were one, and a row of prisoner
barracks was the other. These buildings
had a high symbolic meaning in relation to
the suffering of the surviving prisoners. In
the middle, a sarcophagus was erected as
focal point of memorialization. The other
barracks and outer parts of the camp were
explicitly not regarded as worth preserving
from an historical point of view; the former
were removed from the site and recycled
elsewhere. The outer parts of the camp
were demolished, and what little remained
of these areas was only discernible to the
trained eye. Therefore visitors these days
only visit the central buildings surrounding
the roll call area, and the exhibition in the
central memorial. The main objective of
the current reconceptualization is to help
visitors visualize the total dimensions of
the camp. The necessary changes to the
Page 15
near another barrack revealed a
complete —and recoverable—
oven. Apart from building
remains, additional discoveries
included personal belongings
of prisoners, such as the dinner
service of a Russian soldier.
The path leading from the
main camp to the stone quarry
was also excavated in order to
evaluate whether the path was
made in the National Socialist
period or after the war. Today,
the path is paved with uneven
and irregular stones, and the
sides of the path are overgrown
FIGURE 1. Excavating barrack 6 in the sanitary camp of
with grass. Excavation revealed
Mauthausen. (Photo by Claudia Theune.)
that the path was built in two
phases, dating to the 1930s and
remaining buildings will be made with
1940s. The massive foundation with large
great caution, and their state on liberation
cobbles, built during the second phase, was
day, 5 May 1945, will provide the primary
particularly striking, indicating that the
point of reference.
path was made to bear quite heavy loads.
In its later phase, the Mauthausen
By contrast, only simple flagstones without
concentration camp consisted of the main
additional foundations were used in the
camp (camp I), which had 20
barracks for prisoners. There
were also various extensions
such as the special camp II
(inside the main camp wall)
which consisted of 10 additional
barracks, a kitchen barrack,
and a sanitary barrack. The socalled Russian camp, or sanitary
camp, was located southwest of
the main camp. Camp III was
located southeast of the main
camp and consisted of a tent
camp with five large tents in the
northern outer part. In addition
there were other barracks, used
as accommodation facilities or
workshops for the SS.
FIGURE 2. Prisoners’ dishes in the sanitary camp, barrack
In order to evaluate the 6, Mauthausen. (Photo by Claudia Theune.)
surviving remains of the outer
camp, a large-scale geophysical
survey was conducted in the sanitary area,
first phase. Both sides of the path were
the tent camp, and the SS workshop area.
excavated, revealing the true width of the
This led to the identification of the exact
path, as well as drainage ditches on both
positions of these buildings. The primary
sides.
camp execution place, about which little
Test drilling was carried out in the sois known from written sources, was also
called ash dump, a semicircular area with
located in the survey area.
a diameter of ca. 12 m believed to have
Initial excavation was undertaken
been used to dispose of cremated human
in summer 2009 to further evaluate the
remains. This feature is today surrounded
condition of any surviving remains,
by a hedge, and has a memorial stone
particularly as regards ruins and artifacts.
located at its center. Behind this area, the
The end of a barrack in the sanitary area was
terrain drops down towards a ditch. The
uncovered. The barrack was approximately
drilling was carried out in order to evaluate
55 m long and 9.5 m wide. Foundation walls
the dimensions of the ash deposits. A 10
made of rubble were well preserved. In the
cm diameter drill was used: 14 bore holes
center was a carefully paved entrance. The
were made inside the hedge, with a further
interior of the building was divided into
2 located outside the hedge; all of these
three portions by columns. The foundations
were drilled down to the natural soil. Core
of an oven were also discovered and a pit
samples and finds were analyzed (these
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
included soil, ash, and cremated bones),
and the recovered materials wer afterwards
placed back in the locations where they had
been taken from. It was evident that the
area had been prepared and leveled for
the deposition of ash during the National
Socialist period. Cremated bones of the
imprisoned were found, as well as personal
belongings of the prisoners.
Buildings archaeology is an important
part of the current research at the camp.
All of the buildings are being meticulously
analyzed in regard to their contemporary
appearance and the phases of their
construction. Examination of the execution
areas 2 and 3, the gas chamber, the
crematoria, and the camp bordello is now
largely complete. Postwar changes, such
as interior painting and dividing of rooms
which occurred with the construction of the
Mauthausen memorial, were documented.
The original wall and ceiling paintings
of the bordello, which was partially
excavated, are particularly striking. Further
excavations in the area of the tent camp and
the main execution area are planned.
For a formal version of this report (in
English) see: <http://www.histarch.unikiel.de/2010_Theune_low.pdf>.
Czech Republic
An
Archaeological
Perspective
on
Czechoslovakian Mobilization in 1938:
The “Toužim Traverse” Fortification Line
Project (submitted by Pavel Vařeka, <vareka@
kar.zcu.cz>): An extensive fortification
system consisting of armored concrete
bunkers of different types, influenced
by the French Maginot line, was built in
Czechoslovakia in 1934–1938 along the
German border. The present project focuses
on the unprotected ca. 70 km long gap in the
fortification line situated in West Bohemia,
in the modern Czech Republic, which was
only provided with field fortifications—
instead of massive bunkers—during the
Czechoslovakian army’s September 1938
mobilization.
FIGURE 1. The 1938 fortifications as they appeared during the recent fieldwork.
Page 16
left of the Czech territories being made a
protectorate of the German Reich, and the
remaining Slovak territories turned into the
Axis puppet Slovak Republic.
FIGURE 2. The 1938 fortifications as they appeared during the recent fieldwork.
Recent archaeological survey carried
out by the Department of Archaeology,
University of West Bohemia, in cooperation
with the Department of Archaeology,
University of York, has traced wellpreserved remains of the “Toužim
traverse” field fortifications in the vicinity
of the small town of Úterý, which were
constructed between 23 and 30 September
1938. The main aim of the project is to shed
light on the Czechoslovakian mobilization
and the defense preparations against the
anticipated German attack (“Fall Blau”)
from an archaeological perspective. The
remains of these dramatic events, only
70 years ago, represent an important part
of the historical heritage of the Czech
Republic, but have never been the subject
of systematic research.
The archaeological investigation in 2010
focused on field survey and documentation
of approximately 50 features situated
on 3 strategic hills within the survey’s
selected
polygon
area.
Small-scale
excavations were carried out to test the
results of nondestructive survey, provide
information concerning the construction
and function of field fortifications (such
as foxholes, machine-gun nests, and
antitank gun positions), and also to study
the everyday life of the Czechoslovakian
soldiers during this dramatic period in late
September 1938. Formation processes of the
archaeological records were also examined.
The archaeological evidence was compared
with other records, such as military archives,
military handbooks, historical maps,
contemporary military aerial photographs,
and oral history investigations.
The 1938 fortifications were never
used. The Munich Agreement, signed on
30 September 1938, led to the immediate
Nazi annexation of the disputed territories
without any combat. Hungary annexed
parts of Slovakia later in 1938, and all
of Ruthenia in early 1939; Poland also
annexed a small border region of the Czech
territories in October 1938. The rump
Czechoslovak state was dissolved by Nazi
Germany in March 1939, with what was
Volume 43: Number 4
States, and ahead of all of the overseas
British Empire put together. It seemed
that many Anglophone archaeologists had
previously underestimated South America’s
importance in the global ceramics trade.
The specific focus of the current research
Mexico, Central
was an assemblage excavated by Rodríguez
Yilo in 2004; this was a late-18th- to 19thand South America
century rubbish dump on a domestic site
associated with a local elite family in the
Pedro Paulo A. Funari
center of the Venezuelan city of Barcelona
<ppfunari@uol.com.br>
(not to be confused with its more famous
Catalan counterpart), which is also the
Venezuela
capital of Anzoátegui state. The Monagas
family, who owned the house, were one of
Nineteenth-Century British Ceramics the most prominent families in 19th-century
in Northeastern Venezuela (submitted by Venezuela, supplying two presidents—
Alasdair Brooks): In July and August of this though neither José Tadeo Monagas nor
past summer, Alasdair Brooks and Ana his brother José Gregorio Monagas are
Cristina Rodríguez Yilo undertook analysis believed to have lived in Barcelona’s Casa
of a 19th-century ceramics assemblage Monagas. Rodríguez Yilo had excavated
as part of a British Academy small grant- over 30,000 fragments of refined ceramics
funded project on 19th-century British from the site, so there was no shortage of
ceramics in Venezuela. The project was materials to work with; an initial catalog
designed as an initial pilot project to look had been already filed with the municipal
at the feasibility of a longer-term project on government, but considerable work was
the role of British-made material culture still necessary in the field in order to
in 19th-century South America, using generate a more detailed catalog, including
Venezuela as a case study.
a minimum vessel count.
The importance of South America for
The work on the assemblage was
global comparative studies of 19th-century intended to help understand a 19th-century
South American ceramics
assemblage in broader
international context. The
specific project goals were
to:
(1) Further quantify the
19th-century
component
of the assemblage using
standard
international
methodologies, so as to
assure comparability with
assemblages from other
countries.
(2)
Identify
the
percentage
of
British
materials in the 19thcentury component in
order to test the hypothesis
that British imports start to
FIGURE 1. The Plaza Boyaca in central Barcelona, looking across
dominate elite Venezuelan
to the original site of the Casa Monagas (behind statue); the new
assemblages in the postbuilding on the site has been built in a somewhat incongruous
colonial period as British
Mexican colonial style. (Photo by Alasdair Brooks.)
merchants expand into the
South American market
British goods—particularly ceramics—was following the collapse of the Spanish
originally highlighted for Brooks when, colonial trade monopoly.
paradoxically enough, he was working in
(3) Identify the relative quantity of
Australia and writing a book on British different decorative techniques in the
ceramics in the latter country. In the course assemblage to see how Venezuela fits into
of research for that book, he collated export the past observation that British Empire
figures that demonstrated that, by the assemblages favor brightly colored
middle of the 19th century, South America decorations while USA-based assemblages
was the second-largest market for British favour lightly decorated vessels; does the
ceramics exports—behind only the United Barcelona assemblage show affinities with
Winter 2010
Page 17
far more fragmentary almost entirely absent from their British
fill items. These data and Australian equivalents. But there was
should
offer
the also evidence of uniquely Venezuelan
opportunity to engage traits within the assemblage. These traits
in robust comparisons were mostly associated with the later
with contemporaneous fragmented fill, which also compared with
assemblages from other two much smaller assemblages of similar
parts of the world, period from the nearby town of Píritu and
helping us to understand the Venezuelan capital Caracas. The current
some of the other research preliminary working hypothesis is that
issues for which we were from independence through to about 1850
attempting to gain an or 1860, British materials virtually identical
initial feel.
to those shipped to the United States
On
point
two, dominate Venezuelan assemblages. From
we
conclusively the middle of the century on, however,
demonstrated that—at while British materials are still the dominant
least at the elite level— element, there is an increase in trade
British table ceramics with France and Germany. While British
FIGURE 2. One of the willow pattern transfer-printed vessels fea- almost totally replace materials, particularly transfer prints, still
turing both printed and impressed ‘DAVENPORT’ maker’s marks. Spanish table ceramics predominate, the simple undecorated
within
Venezuelan vessels and vessels with brightly colored
(Photo by Alasdair Brooks.)
households
within painted rims that become more common
20 years of effective in mid-century seem to be French and
one of these patterns, or does it show unique
characteristics of its own? In essence, how independence (in the early 1820s; the initial German, with many coming from Bordeaux.
much local variation is there in a period of formal declaration of the First Republic The color combinations in the bandedincreasing standardization in an era of mass was in 1811). All of the table ceramics in rim vessels are unusual, and appear to be
the household clearance assemblage were different from similar post-1860 decorations
production and mass consumption?
(4) Identify the relative quantity of British; the only Spanish items were six in the United States, Canada, Britain, and
different forms in order to see if these show olive oil jars. The more fragmented fill items Australia. This suggests that these are
any specifically Venezuelan preferences, from later in the 19th century were slightly worth investigating further as a potential
or mirror distributions from the primary more complex than anticipated in that they point of difference in the development of
included some French and German vessels Venezuelan ceramics preference. There is
English-speaking regions identified above.
The five weeks of work were highly (some were from Alsace, so could be either, also some evidence that the occurrence of
successful. Research focused on just depending on when they were made). This French ceramics may be tied to trade in
the largest context from the site, a 19th- is an important point in looking at research olive oil and wine. While we lacked the time
century rubbish pit. While this also point three. There was not much evidence to look at the bottle glass in any detail, there
contained thousands of small fragments of utilitarian kitchen and storage ceramics were marked French bottles reading “huile
of scattered ceramics debris, much of it vessels in the assemblage—they comprised d’olive” and “St. Julien” (the Monagas
presumably from fill, the core of the pit around 10% of the assemblage, and were family seem to have had reasonably
assemblage was a household clearance not the primary focus of the research— but expensive tastes when it came to claret),
assemblage consisting of a minimum of 239 preliminary evidence suggests that these with the latter in particular indicating the
potential for studying broader trade with
tightly dateable vessels, all of which were remain in a more local/Hispanic tradition.
On point three, there is no question that the Bordeaux region. Another major point
complete or substantially complete. These
household
clearance materials could be sorted into the
clearly definable sets of different decorative c l e a r a n c e
is
techniques, and the overwhelming majority assemblage
of the marked fragments in the household much closer to
clearance materials (most of them transfer what would be
prints) featured precisely the same maker’s expected in an
mark: an impressed “DAVENPORT” (which 1830s assemblage
many Newsletter readers will recognize as in the United
a prominent 19th-century Staffordshire States rather than
ceramics firm), the characteristic impressed on a British or
Empire
anchor mark of that firm, and an impressed British
“36” above the anchor—indicating a site. The types
of handpainted,
manufacture date of 1836.
In terms of addressing the research edge-decorated,
transferissues…. On point one, we have now and
generated a full minimum vessel count printed styles are
catalog for both the clearance and fill entirely consistent
components. While these things are with an American
of
rarely 100% exact for assemblages of assemblage
mass-produced materials, we have also the same date; in
generated separate minimum vessel counts many cases these FIGURE 3. One of the 18 industrial slip chamberpots from the household
are clearance element of the assemblage. (Photo by Alasdair Brooks.)
for the household clearance vessels and the decorations
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 18
of difference comes from the absence of a
decoration. The extremely common Asiatic
Pheasants transfer print pattern, one of the
most ubiquitous transfer prints globally,
and familiar to archaeologists working on
the 19th century in North America, Britain,
Australia, and quite a few other parts of the
world, was wholly and entirely absent from
any of the Venezuelan sites we looked at.
Point four is the only issue not examined
in any detail as of this writing, as it requires
final analysis of the data. The types of vessel
form are certainly wholly consistent with
North American and British equivalents,
but it is not yet known whether there is
anything unusual in the distribution of
relative quantities of each form.
Underwater
(Worldwide)
(formerly the National Undersea Research
Center for the North Atlantic and Great
Lakes at the University of Connecticut)
since 2002; the collaboration between
sanctuary staff and NURTEC has resulted
in the documentation of 28 shipwrecks.
At the end of August, the Office
of National Marine Sanctuaries East
Coast research vessel SRVx traveled to
Massachusetts from Virginia. While at the
sanctuary, the vessel served as a platform
for a seven-day synthetic aperture sonar
(SAS) survey off Gloucester, Massachusetts.
The survey, conducted with Applied
Signal Technology, Inc., mapped over
169 km2 of seafloor. Project goals sought
to locate archaeological resources, assess
derelict fishing gear concentrations, and
characterize seafloor habitat. SAS creates
images similar to conventional side scan
sonar; however, the seafloor maps are much
higher resolution and cover more area.
Toni L. Carrell
<tlcarrell@shipsofdiscovery.org>
Massachusetts
Stellwagen Bank National Marine
Sanctuary: NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank
National Marine Sanctuary had a busy and
productive field season during the 2010
summer. Projects ranged from remotely
operated vehicle (ROV) exploration of
several historic shipwrecks to SCUBA
diving investigations of an early scientific
saturation diving habitat location on
Jeffreys Ledge. Maritime heritage projects
were focused on meeting the sanctuary’s
mandates arising from the Federal
Archaeological Program and interpreting
the sanctuary’s past for the American
public.
Over two days in early August, sanctuary
archaeologists partnered with scientists and
technicians from the Northeast Undersea
Research, Technology and Education Center
at the University of Connecticut (NURTEC)
to investigate several sonar targets with a
ROV. Located at depths ranging from 60
to 85 m, seven of the targets were found to
be historic shipwrecks. The team gathered
high-definition video imagery and stills
with the science class ROV Kraken 2. The
shipwrecks investigated ranged from 20thcentury fishing vessels to wooden-hulled
sailing vessels with cargoes of coal or stone.
Several shipwrecks without obvious cargo
remains may be the oldest vessels located in
the sanctuary to date. Preliminary research
on the artifacts found at the sites and the
vessels’ construction features suggest
sinking dates early in the 19th century. The
project was the sanctuary’s sixth maritime
heritage ROV cruise with NURTEC
Volume 43: Number 4
Marine Sanctuary.” For more information
on the sanctuary visit <http://stellwagen.
noaa.gov/> or become a Facebook fan at
<http://www.facebook.com/SBNMS>.
Conferences and
Call for Papers
8–12 November 2011: This is a call for
expressions of interest in being involved
as theme or session organizers for the
Inaugural Asian Academy for Heritage
Management (AAHM) Asia-Pacific regional
conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage
to be held in Manila (Philippines) from
8 to 12 November 2011. The National
Museum of the Philippines and the
University of the Philippines are serving
as host organizations for the conference.
Theme and session organizers will form the
Scientific Committee for the conference.
Each theme and session will require
a minimum of two, and no more than
three, organizers. Preference will be
given to groups of theme and session
organizers who are prepared to work
to ensure gender balance, have a
blend of experienced and early-career
professionals/academics (or graduate
students), and have at least one member of
their group whose first language is other
than English. The conference organizers
can help interested individuals to make
contact with other potentially suitable
organizers. Theme and session organizers
will be expected to attend the conference
in person and to present an individual, or
jointly written, paper in either their own
or another theme or session.
Theme Organizers
Themes will encompass “large-scale”
issues in maritime archaeology and/
or
underwater
cultural
heritage
management in the Asia-Pacific region,
which consists of countries around
the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Themes
will need to have at least three sessions
that fit comfortably within the theme and
should run for a minimum of one whole
day up to three days. Theme organizers
will be required to draft a suitable theme
description of 300 to 500 words which will
appear on the conference website. They will
be responsible for the overall coordination of
their theme within the conference program
including involvement in the recruitment,
evaluation, and selection of sessions and
session organizers for their theme. They
will be involved in seeking funds to bring
participants to the conference. Theme
organizers will be expected to chair a
session within their theme and be prepared
to stand in as chair of a session, if required.
SAS_Palmer-Crary: Synthetic aperture sonar
image of the collided coal schooners Frank A.
Palmer and Louise B. Crary. (Image courtesy of
NOAA/SBNMS and Applied Signal Technology.)
Features as small as 3 cm2 can be resolved
at a range of 150 m, making this an ideal
tool for locating shipwrecks.
Over 10 sonar targets with archaeological
resource characteristics were located during
the SAS survey. In addition to locating
new maritime heritage sites the team also
re-imaged the steamship Portland and
coal schooners Frank A. Palmer and Louise
B. Crary to create a more detailed overall
view of the sites. NOAA’s Office of Ocean
Exploration and Research and the ONMS
Maritime Heritage Program provided
project funding. Sanctuary archaeologist
Matthew Lawrence will be presenting on
the SAS project at the 2011 SHA conference
in a paper entitled, “Testing the Efficacy of
Synthetic Aperture Sonar to Locate Historic
Shipwrecks in the Stellwagen Bank National
Winter 2010
Page 19
Theme organizers will be expected to play
a significant role in the publication(s) that
arise from the conference.
Session organizers
Sessions will address a significant,
specific issue in maritime archaeology
and/or underwater cultural heritage
management. The conference organizers
wish to encourage a variety of approaches
to sessions including workshops, panel
discussions,
demonstrations,
poster
sessions, or other approaches as well as
innovative ideas using digital media and
communications. Ordinary sessions will
consist of one or more parts, each of which
will consist of four presentations (20 minutes
in length plus 20 minutes for questions). A
session needs to have a minimum of four
presenters but can consist of multiple parts
that run over a day or days.
Session organizers will be required
to draft a suitable session description of
approximately 300 words which will appear
on the conference website. They will be
responsible for the overall coordination of
their session within the conference program,
including involvement in the recruitment,
evaluation, and selection of presenters
for their session. They will be involved in
seeking funds to bring participants to the
conference. Session organizers will also
select a suitable chair for each part of their
session and they will be expected to chair a
session part within their session, as well as
be prepared to stand in as chair of a session
part, if required. Session organizers will be
expected to play a role in the publication(s)
that arise from the conference.
Send all expressions of interest to:
Associate Professor Mark Staniforth,
Chair—Scientific
Committee,
Asian
Academy for Heritage Management
(AAHM)
Inaugural
Conference
on
Underwater Cultural Heritage, at: <mark.
staniforth@flinders.edu.au>.
ACUA Annual Photo
Competition 2011 Calendar
We are pleased to announce that a 2011
calendar featuring images from the 2000
to 2010 annual ACUA Photo Competitions
is available. The full-color wall calendar
will bring back fond memories of past
conferences and encourage the artistic
among you to warm up your cameras for
the next competition. Each month features
a different winning image on land or
underwater.
Your purchase is a donation to the
ACUA and will help support future photo
competitions. The calendar is available
online through the ACUA website for $20
Volume 43: Number 4
at <http://www.ACUAonline.org> or at
the ACUA bookstore at: <http://stores.
lulu.com/acuabookstore>. Be the first in
your neighborhood to be a proud owner of
the ACUA Annual Photo Competition 2011
Calendar. The images of our friends and
colleagues never go out of date!
ACUA 2010 Underwater
Archaeology Proceedings
The Advisory Council on Underwater
Archaeology is pleased to present the
2010 Underwater Archaeology Proceedings,
consisting of papers presented at the
Society for Historical Archaeology’s annual
Conference on Historical and Underwater
Archaeology at Amelia Island, Florida. This
year’s volume was edited by Chris Horrell
and Melanie Damour and features articles
from an international cast of colleagues
across a broad geographical range of sites.
The 2010 Proceedings can be downloaded as
a PDF File for $10 or you can obtain a printed
version for $25. To order your copy of the
2010 Proceedings or 2011 Calendar, visit the
ACUA bookstore at: <http://stores.lulu.
com/store.php?fAcctID=1880429>.
Michigan
Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project:
2010 Field Season (submitted by Ian B.
Kerr): Initially established in 1998, the
Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project,
in conjunction with Western Michigan
University’s archaeological field school,
seeks to engage the public in the
investigation and interpretation of sites
associated with the colonial fur trade in
the St. Joseph River valley of southwest
Michigan. Led by principal investigator
Dr. Michael Nassaney, the project this past
July and August continued excavations of
intact cultural features and artifact deposits
associated with Fort St. Joseph, an 18th-
USA-Midwest
Lynn Evans
<EvansL8@michigan.gov>
Midwest
Historical
Archaeology
Conference: The 6th Annual Midwest
Historical Archaeology Conference was
held Saturday, 9 October at Heidelberg
University in Tiffin, Ohio. The theme of
this year’s conference was the archaeology
of conflict. Invited presentations addressed
the theme through research at Pickawillany
(Annette Ericksen, Hocking College), the
South Carolina backcountry (Kenneth Lewis,
Michigan State University) and Johnson’s
Island Civil War Prison (David Bush,
Heidelberg University). Andrew Schocket
(Bowling Green State University) provided
an historian’s perspective. Roundtables
addressed a variety of research and career
topics, and a student poster competition
rounded out the day. The undergraduate
winner was Caitlin Monesmith (University
of Notre Dame) for “Changing the Steaks,
Investigating
Trends
in
Butchering
Practice.” The graduate winner was Ian
Kerr (Western Michigan University) for
“Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project:
2010 Field Season.” David Bush led a tour
of Johnson’s Island Sunday morning. The
conference was organized by April Beisaw
of Heidelberg University.
Winter 2010
FIGURE 1. A student carefully excavates feature 19, a metal cache.
century mission, garrison, and trading post
complex located along the banks of the St.
Joseph River in Niles, Michigan.
Each field season, the project seeks to
expand upon the project’s research directives
and public archaeology components. In
keeping with that goal, this year a team of
30 WMU faculty members, graduate and
undergraduate students, and volunteers
continued a program of public outreach
and community service learning. The 35th
annual archaeological field school hosted
by Western Michigan University focused
its efforts on examining how the French
constructed and arranged their buildings at
the fort site. Through previous excavations,
a number of fireplaces have been identified
that parallel the river, possibly evidence
of row houses or a series of domestic
buildings at the fort. In addition, the project
focused its collective efforts in examining,
Page 20
of New France. This
was also the focus of the
open-house event, which
culminates the field season.
During the open house,
community
members
had
the
opportunity
to
attend
lectures,
witness and participate
in demonstrations by
historical
reenactors,
peruse
an
outdoor
museum featuring artifact
displays
highlighting
notable finds from the
field season, and interact
with the field school
students while viewing
FIGURE 2. Two students work to remove some of the wood from a
ongoing
excavation.
vertical post.
Since 2006, nearly 10,000
visitors have attended the
through the extant material culture, how
archaeological open house. Events from
colonialism and cultural contact between
the summer camps to the open house all
the indigenous population and French at
assist the project in better serving the needs
the site contributed to distinct patterns of
and desires of the local community while
identity formation and ethnogenesis on the
helping to bring the history and culture
frontier of New France.
of Fort St. Joseph to life. The open house
This year, six 1 x 2 m excavation units
theme in 2011 will be Fort St. Joseph’s role
were opened adjacent to previously
in the fur trade; the open house will be held
identified features. Three new features were
identified during the six weeks of excavation
at the site, including a stone foundation
and upright posts, shedding light on how
structures at the fort were constructed. A
number of notable artifacts were found as
well, including a metal cache containing
several iron hand-wrought nails and screws,
a butt plate, trigger guard, an iron axe head,
and several other unidentified pieces of iron
hardware. This hoard may be associated
with the gunsmith’s cache located less than
10 m to the northeast or may be evidence
of a specific accumulation of material
waiting to be fixed or refurbished. This area
has also yielded a plethora of trade beads,
unfired musket balls, lead shot, and other
marketable trade items, suggesting the
presence of a storeroom nearby.
Public archaeology at the site revolves
around community service learning and
education and outreach events that reinforce
the project’s commitment to community
engagement. Three week-long summer FIGURE 3. Visitors gather around a unit for
camps were run in association with the Fort a view of the ongoing archaeology immediately
St. Joseph Museum. A total of 26 individuals, prior to the annual open house.
including adults and middle school
students, learned how to excavate properly,
take field notes, and identify artifacts in
13–14 August.
addition to gaining an appreciation for the
importance of archaeological materials in
Irish-American Identity on Beaver Island,
the interpretation and reconstruction of
Michigan (submitted by Deb Rotman, Ph.D.,
history and culture. This year, the project
RPA, University of Notre Dame): As Irish
also hosted a four-part lecture series in
immigrants from Árainn Mhór off the
which visiting scholars gave presentations
coast of County Donegal began new lives
pertaining to this year’s theme, the women
for themselves in northern Michigan,
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
their identities and social worlds were
significantly shaped by their interactions
with a variety of cultural groups, including
Mormons
and
Native
Americans.
Archaeological and historical investigations
of 19th-century homesteads associated with
Irish immigrants on Beaver Island in Lake
Michigan began during the summer 2010
field season.
Beaver Island, with its sparse population
and relatively remote location, created
unique opportunities for individuals and
families seeking to build new lives for
themselves in America (Connors 1995). The
island was not “a blank slate,” however:
prior to 1847, occupation on the island
was a varied mix of Irish, German, Native
American, and other families who were
scattered on subsistence farms around the
island’s periphery (Metress and Metress
2006). Encounters with French fur traders,
commercial fisherman, and crews of cargo
ships transporting goods between Buffalo,
New York and Chicago were also not
uncommon (Collar 1980).
The social dynamics of the island were
radically altered in 1847. After a dispute
with Brigham Young over leadership of the
Mormon Church, James Strang brought his
followers to Beaver Island and established
the Kingdom of St. James (Weeks 1976:10).
There was considerable tension between
Strang and non-Mormon families and
by 1856 the island was inhabited almost
exclusively by Mormons. In June of that
year, two of his disgruntled followers
assassinated Strang, after which Irish
immigrants evicted the Mormons and
reclaimed Beaver Island for themselves
(Weeks 1976:9).
Most of the Irish exiles returned,
“establishing new fishing camps and
farms and occupying former Mormon
sites” (Metress and Metress 2006:33).
Occupation of the island went from being
almost exclusively Mormon to almost
exclusively Irish in less than a generation.
Indeed, during the second half of the 19th
century, nearly 95% of the families on the
island were of Irish descent (U.S. Bureau of
the Census 1870, 1880, 1900). Perhaps not
surprisingly, this is also the period during
which chain migration direct from Árainn
Mhór in County Donegal was most active.
At the peak of Irish immigration, Beaver
Island was a Gaeltacht, one of only a few
Irish-speaking enclaves in the United States
(Sullivan 2010:65).
The Beaver Island Lumber Company
altered the cultural landscape of the
island yet again by bringing an influx of
foreign laborers in 1903 (Gladish 1976).
Although the Irish continued to have a
strong presence, the logging camps were
occupied by lumberjacks and millers from
Page 21
Germany, Denmark, Norway, France, and unrefined earthenwares, metal food
Austria, England, and even India (U.S. containers, buttons, beads, coins, personal
Bureau of the Census 1910). The Gaeltacht objects and religious medallions, botanical
faded into history as English became the remains including seeds and dried fruits,
language through which daily business and the bones of butchered fauna (such as
was transacted.
cow, pig, deer, and poultry). Analyses of
It is these varied cultural contacts the spatial and artifactual data recovered
between ca. 1840 and ca. 1920 that are are ongoing. Each of the students who
the foci of this interdisciplinary project. participated in the excavation developed
Identity is contrastive by nature: ‘we’ exist and published a web page that discusses
by reference to a distinguishing ‘them’ their chosen research question, the data they
(Newton 2010:96). Our research questions used to answer it, and their preliminary
include: How was Irish identity and research results (see <blogs.nd.edu/
ethnogenesis shaped
by interaction with
peoples of varied
ethnicities?
How
was
“Irishness”
performed when the
island was occupied
by disparate cultural
groups, such as
Native
Americans
and
Mormons?
How was identity
mediated in the
second half of the
19th century when
the island was so
homogenously
Irish? How were
consumer choices,
foodways, and uses
of space shaped
Students excavating at the Gallagher Homesite on Beaver Island, Michiand
transformed
gan.
as Irish immigrants
on Beaver Island
navigated
the
multifaceted social worlds in which they irishstories>).
lived?
Public education and outreach was also
The Peter Doney Gallagher homestead an important aspect of the 2010 project.
(20CX201) was the first site to be excavated Members of the Beaver Island Historical
during the 2010 pilot project. Built by Society and the general public were invited
Mormons in the 1840s, the cabin was to volunteer on the excavation and in the
occupied by a German family immediately lab under supervision in 2010. The site was
following the Mormon eviction. Beginning also open to visitors from the general public
in the 1880s, it was occupied by multiple every day, and a formal open house was
generations of two Irish families (the Earlys held during the Beaver Island Historical
and the Gallaghers) up through the early Society’s annual “Museum Week.” In
21st century. The occupational history of addition, two lectures were given at the
this home lot provides a wonderful cross- Beaver Island Community Center.
section of lived cultural experiences on the
Excavation will continue on Beaver
island.
Island over the next several years. We will
Excavation at the Gallagher Homesite explore additional homesteads associated
(20CX201) revealed stratified middens, with both Irish and non-Irish families on the
discrete features such as building island and the unique process of becoming
foundations and trash pits, and extant Irish-American in northern Michigan.
architecture, including a mid-19th-century
log cabin, sheds, and other outbuildings. References
There has been very little development on
Beaver Island, particularly outside of the Collar, Helen
village of St. James, and so preservation 1980
The Pre-Mormon Settlement on
of archaeological deposits is excellent. Beaver Island, 1837-1852. Journal of Beaver
Artifacts recovered through the excavation Island History 2:9–28.
include container glass, fruit jars, refined
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Connors, Paul
1995 America’s Emerald Isle: The Cultural
Invention of the Irish Fishing Community
on Beaver Island, Michigan, Vols. I and
II. Doctoral dissertation, Department of
History, Loyola University, Chicago, IL.
University Microfilms International, Ann
Arbor, MI.
Gladish, David
1976 Notes on Island Logging. Journal of
Beaver Island History 1:89–102.
Metress, Seamus P., and Eileen K. Metress
2006 Irish in Michigan. Michigan State
University Press, East Lansing.
Newton, Michael
2010 “Did you hear about the Gaelicspeaking African?”: Scottish Gaelic
Folklore about Identity in North America.
Comparative American Studies 8(2):88–106.
Sullivan, Thomas J.
2010 Designing Irishness: Ethnicity, Heritage,
and Imagined Connection to Place through
Language. Doctoral dissertation, Department
of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana
State University, Baton Rouge. University
Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.
United States Bureau of the Census
1870 Population Schedules of the Ninth Census
of the United States. United States Bureau of
the Census, Washington, DC.
United States Bureau of the Census
1880 Population Schedules of the Tenth Census
of the United States. United States Bureau of
the Census, Washington, DC.
United States Bureau of the Census.
1900 Population Schedules of the Twelfth
Census of the United States. United States
Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC.
United States Bureau of the Census
1910 Population Schedules of the Thirteenth
Census of the United States. United States
Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC.
Weeks, Robert
1976 The Kingdom of St. James and
Nineteeth Century Utopianism. Journal of
Beaver Island History 1:9–26.
USA-Mid-Atlantic
Ben Resnick
<b.resnick@gaiconsultants.com>
Maryland
Page 22
Archaeology in Annapolis (submitted by
Amanda Tang and Jocelyn Knauf, Laboratory
Directors,
Archaeology
in
Annapolis,
Department of Anthropology, University
of
Maryland,
<atang@anth.umd.edu>;
<jknauf@anth.umd.edu>):
Archaeology
in Annapolis has been conducting
archaeological excavations on Fleet,
Cornhill, and East Streets in the historic
district of Annapolis for the past three
years. In the area just south of the Maryland
State House and bounded by State Circle,
Main Street, Francis Street, and East
including how the area changed through goes beyond the visual. She will explore
time and how improvements were made how behaviors can be normalized (made
to public utilities, backyard units provided invisible or illegible) or marked as deviant,
the opportunity to explore the archaeology unsanitary, and disruptive (made visible
of this middle- and working-class area. or legible) by planners, administrators,
On Fleet, Cornhill, and East Streets we or residents, and the ways that these
have found archaeological evidence of at conventions and spatial orders were
least 300 years of urban development and managed. For planners, how could visibility
occupation in Annapolis—and with it the be used to enforce borders in physical and
opportunity to study the structure of life cultural space, or invisibility of difference
for the residents of the neighborhood, who be used to construct “universal” ideals of
came from a variety of ethnic, racial, and citizenship? On the ground, how could
religious backgrounds.
use of “public” or “private” spaces allow
In the late 19th and early visibility or foster invisibility of certain
20th centuries the majority of the behaviors or expressions of identity?
houses on Fleet Street and several
Archaeologically,
excavations
in
properties on East Street were the streetscape and backyard spaces of
occupied by African Americans, Fleet and Cornhill Streets have revealed
while Cornhill Street residences previously unknown information about the
were occupied predominantly by history of the area. One of the earlier road
European Americans. Prior to the surfaces exposed under the sidewalk on
excavations, the African American Fleet Street was a historically unrecorded
occupation in this area of the corduroy or log road dating to the early
city, stretching back to at least 18th century. Earlier street development
the 18th century, was not widely and modernization was also visible. Public
acknowledged. We discovered utilities that were excavated included a
archaeological remains from a public well and gas, sewage, and water
long history of African American pipes no longer in use. In the backyard
occupation on Cornhill, Fleet, spaces, interpretations have focused on
and East Streets, in enslaved and private utilities, including a 19th-century
free contexts, providing insights cistern and privy, as well as artifacts related
into the longevity and variety to social and commercial activities that took
of Annapolis’ African American place at the sites.
community. Archaeology has
During the summer of 2010, the
thus demonstrated 300 years of Archaeology in Annapolis field school
continued African and African excavated the James Holliday House at 99
FIGURE 1. University of Maryland 2010 Summer Field American residence in this East Street (Figure 2). Research about this site
School graduate student Jocelyn Knauf and undergraduate principal quadrant of Maryland’s will be utilized by doctoral student Kathryn
Deeley as part of her dissertation. The James
student Elizabeth Teoman excavating at 41 Cornhill Street, capital city.
Research for two dissertation Holliday house was purchased by a freed
Annapolis, MD.
projects through the University African American before Emancipation,
of Maryland, College Park, is and is still owned by descendants of
Street, we have conducted excavations at connected with these excavations. Doctoral James Holliday. The current owner of the
seven archaeological sites. This quadrant student Jocelyn Knauf is focusing on the house, the great-great-granddaughter of
of the city was surveyed and set aside streetscape and backyard
for Governor Francis Nicholson in 1696, excavations on Fleet and
and was first subdivided into commercial Cornhill Streets (Figure
and residential spaces in the 1770s. In the 1). Her dissertation is
spring of 2008, under contract with the concerned with the ways
city of Annapolis, Department of Public in which planners and
Works, streetscape excavation units were administrators of the city,
placed under the sidewalks along Fleet and and the residents of Fleet
Cornhill Streets. This work was done as and Cornhill Streets, used
part of the anticipated undergrounding of visibility or invisibility
the overhead utility lines on these streets. through the construction
Although the contract work concluded and
negotiation
of
in May of 2008, the research goals of the behavior
related
to
project were extended through field school conduct, sanitation, and
excavations in the summers of 2008, 2009, citizenship. Although the
and 2010 and were also expanded to include concepts of visibility and
data from the yard spaces of some of these invisibility invoke literal
properties.
translations into lines of FIGURE 2. University of Maryland 2010 Summer Field School
While the street units helped to sight, direct surveillance, students Zev Cossin, Chris Cullen, Zak Andrews, Justin Uehlein,
address research questions related to the and presence/absence, Jessica Vogel, and Sarah Flores excavating at 99 East Street,
development of Fleet and Cornhill Streets, the idea of visibility Annapolis, MD.
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 23
James Holliday, invited Archaeology in
Annapolis to excavate her home’s backyard
in hopes of gaining a better understanding
of her family and their connections to the
Annapolis community. The current owner
of the property has worked extensively
with Kathryn Deeley to discuss the research
questions that her family has about the site,
and has also provided historical documents
and family history.
James Holliday was born in Anne
Arundel County about 1809 and was
owned by Nicholas Watkins until October
1819. In 1850, Holliday purchased 97 and
99 East Street, and a few years later he
purchased 101 East Street. He was one
of the first African Americans to work
for the U.S. Naval Academy. Holliday
was a courier and steward-messenger
for the first eight superintendents of the
Naval Academy, working there from 1845
(when the Academy opened its doors)
until his death in 1882. One of the topics
being explored in the research at 99 East
Street is the extent of the family’s ties to
the Naval Academy and how interaction
with a historically exclusionary institution
affected African American families. How
did the Holliday family negotiate their way
through slavery, segregation, and racism
in Annapolis and how does the family
compare to other property-owning African
American families in Annapolis?
To date, two test units have been
excavated in the backyard of 99 East
Street. They have yielded over 10,000
artifacts, including a very large number of
animal bones, which are currently being
processed, cataloged, and analyzed in the
Archaeology in Annapolis Laboratory
at the University of Maryland, College
Park. Amanda Tang, doctoral student in
the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Maryland, College Park and
a zooarchaeologist, will help analyze the
collection of bones and identify what the
Holliday family was eating. Excavations
at 99 East Street will continue for the next
two summers, which will further expand
our knowledge of African Americans
in the Fleet, Cornhill, and East Streets
neighborhood of this southern capital city.
Virginia
Fieldwork at the Fairfield Foundation
(submitted by David Brown and Thane
Harpole): Summer could be characterized
by a single word: overwhelming. The
number of volunteers, interns, and visitors
to Fairfield once again eclipsed our previous
records and resulted in new discoveries
that could rewrite how we look at the
people and events which have taken place
at Fairfield over the last 250 years. With
Volume 43: Number 4
the help of volunteers from Disney’s “Give
a Day/Get a Day” program, and interns
hailing from Los Angeles, New York City,
and the always-reliable hotbeds of Ohio
and Virginia, we opened up more test
units than in nearly any previous summer.
Add to that our new programs with the
Mathews County YMCA, Rappahannock
Community College’s Institute for Lifelong
Learning, and our annual dig days with the
National Institute for American History
and Democracy (NIAHD) of the College
of William and Mary and the Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation. Through this
hard work we discovered dozens of new
features illuminating two significant
portions of the Fairfield plantation
archaeological site.
The first area is located about 200 ft. east
of the manor house. In 2001, we identified a
large, 15 ft. diameter clay borrow pit filled
in the 1720s or 1730s. Just to the east of it we
identified the earliest historic feature on the
site, an ash-filled tree fall dating to the last
quarter of the 17th century. Running across
the pit was a later, likely 18th-century fence
line that may mark the eastern boundary of
the colonial core of the plantation. The work
done by Danielle Cathcart (UMass Boston)
during her 2009 Fairfield Foundation
Fellowship in Plantation Studies led us
back to this area, as she had investigated
what appeared to be a structural post
feature associated with a concentration of
Colonoware. We returned to the area this
summer to expand our sampling of the
plowzone with the hopes of building on
her research. By the end of the summer we
had found numerous additional postholes
associated with fence lines, as well as
likely earthfast buildings, that will redefine
how we look at this area of the site. While
analysis is still underway, we have begun
slowly expanding excavations above a
brickbat foundation recently located just
north of the clay borrow pit found in 2001.
The second area is located about 1000
feet southwest of the house, at the edge of
the current field where the land quickly
drops down toward a wide creek bed. Two
previous test units (2001) had identified
feature soils nearly covering the 10 x 5 ft.
area with mid- to late-18th-century artifacts
in significant concentrations directly above.
Our 2010 Fairfield Foundation Fellow in
Plantation Studies, Tracy Jenkins, elected to
reinvestigate this area. His work revealed
an even more complex network of features,
which likely include a clay borrow pit as
well as multiple subfloor pits associated
with a slave quarter of the 1760s and
1770s and perhaps earlier. While none
of the features were sampled, analysis of
the plowzone artifacts revealed distinct
concentrations that represent multiple
Winter 2010
uses for this space. With its close proximity
to the water and early boat landing, its
dramatic sighting at the edge of the field
and in full view of any incoming vessel, it
represents a domestic space unique to the
plantation. We hope to bring Tracy back
in 2011 to further his research and better
define the activities which took place here
and how it fits within the chronology and
design of the larger plantation landscape.
DATA Investigations (submitted by David
Brown and Thane Harpole): Work at DATA
Investigations continues to balance projects
in our home county, Gloucester, with those
farther afield. In the spring, we continued
the extraction of architectural debris from
Menokin, the collapsed 1769 stone home
of Francis Lightfoot Lee, signer of the
Declaration of Independence. Work focused
on the southeast room and the immediate
exterior in preparation for stabilization of
surviving portions of the stone walls for
the cellar. Hundreds of stone fragments
were documented, including many of
the carefully carved water table, belt
course, and decorative quoins that make
this building so architecturally distinct in
Virginia. We also spent three days in June
working with the Menokin Foundation on a
short field school for Archeological Society
of Virginia (ASV) certification of members
and students at Rappahannock Community
College. These excavations focused on
an area directly north of the manor house
where University of Mary Washington
students previously located a likely late18th-/early-19th-century slave quarter
area associated with the house. The field
school is part of the long-term exploration
of the lives of enslaved Africans at Menokin
(<www.menokin.org>).
DATA Investigations is also involved
in archaeological surveys and testing
associated with the nomination of multiple
properties for the state and federal registries.
Over the summer, we initiated a survey of
Baiae on Ware Neck in Gloucester County.
The property includes a remarkable early19th-century house and the archaeological
survey will complement the nomination
of the architectural resources for the
National Register of Historic Places and
the Virginia Historic Landmarks Register.
The initial shovel test survey revealed
significant concentrations of postbellum
artifacts surrounding the house, but also
a distinct cluster of early-19th-century
material to the east of the house. In the
fall we plan to return to the site in order to
open test units that will hopefully identify
intact features related to the 19th-century
history of the property. Similar work was
undertaken during the spring and summer
at Sherwood, a largely mid-19th-century
Page 24
home across the Ware River from Baiae.
Test unit excavation uncovered the 19thcentury foundation of a dependency to
the west of the main house. Sherwood was
known across Virginia for its impressive
gardens. Understanding how the support
buildings surrounding this garden once
functioned and how they changed over
time will help us better understand the
role of both this landscape and elite society
in 19th-century Gloucester County. The
third property in this series, the Gloucester
Women’s Club, is already listed in the state
and federal registers. Our goal with the
archaeological survey is to complement
new historical and architectural analyses of
the late-18th-/early-19th-century building
in order to update the nominations. Shovel
testing revealed significant concentrations
of early- and late-19th-century artifacts as
well as deeply stratified deposits along the
edge of the hill, which gave the property its
name of “Edge Hill House.” The excavation
of a test unit to the northwest of the house
revealed the concrete foundation of an
early-20th-century structure, referred to as
a kitchen. The presence of intact stratified
deposits from this period suggests that
earlier deposits also survive intact.
Outside of Gloucester our efforts have
focused on three sites in Mathews County.
Following the re-analysis of Dr. Frank
Farmer’s archaeological survey of Brighton
Farm in 1984, we initiated a close-interval
shovel test survey and test unit excavation
to further study a Woodland-period and
18th-century site along the East River.
In downtown Mathews, DATA assisted
members of the Archaeological Society
of Virginia’s Middle Peninsula Chapter
(ASVMPC) with a shovel test beneath the
Old James Store. This rare survival of an
early-19th-century store was supposedly
moved to its current location in the late
19th century. The shovel test confirmed
the presence of artifacts beneath the
floorboards that may predate the building,
but additional testing would be necessary
to be more definitive. Finally, excavations
continued on a mid- to late-17th-century
settlement south of Mathews Courthouse,
uncovering the first evidence of an intact
feature on the site. After an initial shovel
test survey in 2008 and a series of test units
excavated in 2009, the most recent work
may have located a structural posthole and
repair associated with an earthfast building
at this early settlement. Fieldwork will
continue in the fall in order to learn more
about this feature complex. The project is
part of a larger strategy by the ASVMPC
to document early settlements in Mathews
County and nominate them for the state
and federal registers.
Additional projects in King William
Volume 43: Number 4
and the city of Hampton have kept DATA
Investigations busier than ever before.
Along with the King William Historical
Society (KWHS), we excavated two test
units within the ruins of the 1730s Acquinton
Church. Despite significant changes to the
church in the 1750s and again in the 1870s,
we identified intact sections of a builder’s
trench and topsoil from the 18th century.
The KWHS has subsequently stabilized the
ruin, rebuilt the roof, and restored much of
the structure. In Hampton, NASA Langley
Research Center (NASA LRC) asked us
to direct a public-oriented field survey of
Chesterville Plantation, the 18th-century
birthplace and country estate of George
Wythe. Chesterville is known for its ca. 1771
manor house, the design of which may have
been influenced by Wythe’s student Thomas
Jefferson. With the help of volunteers from
the research center’s staff and their families,
we completed two weeks of shovel testing
and a day of ground-penetrating radar
(GPR). The goal of the survey was to refine
the boundaries previously established
by the site’s nomination for the state and
federal registries in the mid-1970s. NASA
LRC hopes to continue research at the site
in 2011, expanding previous excavations
undertaken by Dr. Frank Farmer in 1974
which focused on an early-18th-century
cobble-and-fieldstone house foundation
located just north of the later house ruin.
USA-Northeast
David Starbuck
<dstarbuck@frontiernet.net>
Maine
Submerged Resources Center, Cultural
Resource
Survey
Conducted
at
International Site (submitted by Rebecca
Cole-Will, National Park Service): Resource
managers from Acadia National Park, the
Resource Information Services Division, and
the Submerged Resources Center recently
conducted a survey of Saint Croix Island
International Historic Site as part of a project
to assess the extent of cultural resources
within the park and possible impacts to
these resources from a facility planned
nearby. Saint Croix Island International
Historic Site is a monument for the United
States and Canada that recognizes one of
the first European settlements in North
America. A group of 79 French colonists,
including Pierre Dougua, Sieur de Mons
and Samuel Champlain, established a
settlement on the island in 1604, preceding
the settlements at Jamestown in 1607 and
Plymouth in 1620. Winter 2010
The settlement on Saint Croix was
the first attempt by the French at a yearround colony in the Acadia area. Upon
their arrival, the French cleared the island,
planted crops, dug a well, and built houses,
public buildings, fortifications, and gun
emplacements. On the mainland across
from the island in the area of a cove now
managed by the park, the French cleared
land and planted gardens. They also
operated a water-powered mill and made
charcoal on the mainland. Champlain
created several maps documenting the
island and settlement. The French suffered
a difficult winter on the island with bitter
cold, deep snow, and a scarcity of fresh
food, water, and firewood—35 or 36 men
died and were buried on the southern
portion of the island. After the harsh winter,
the French abandoned the settlement for
a more favorable location in present-day
Nova Scotia. The year spent on the island,
however, provided a valuable lesson about
the local environment and interacting
with the indigenous people of the area,
with whom the French had an amicable
relationship.
Nineteenth- and 20th-century uses
of the island included farming, fishing,
quarrying, smuggling during wartime,
and possibly even the running of a public
house of low repute. In 1856, the United
States government purchased the northern
portion of the island and built a lighthouse,
which was occupied and operated until
1957. The remaining buildings on the island
burned in 1976.
Various excavations have occurred on
the island throughout history, including an
excavation of the French settlement which
was undertaken in 1797 to resolve the
international boundary dispute between
the independent United States and the
British colonies of Canada. From prior
surveys and excavations, park managers
have a number of maps of the island that
specify the locations of survey monuments
and markers, historic sites, and excavated
features including foundations, walls,
fireplaces, and chimneys. These maps
provide useful snapshots of the island’s
history from European American settlement
to the present, but additional data was
required to translate the mapped features
to modern-day coordinates. High-accuracy
geodetic GPS captured coordinates that
will allow resource managers to rectify all
previous maps and correlate them with
each other, creating a single map showing
the overlay of all previously generated
maps of the island. This information will be used to assess
impacts to the island and cultural resources
on the island from naturally occurring
erosion, climate change, and any additional
Page 25
erosion that may be caused by the proposed
facility upriver from the park. The geodetic
survey will also be used as a foundation
for future survey and documentation of
submerged resources associated with
the island and mainland tracts of the
International Historic Site. The next phase
of the project will involve side scan sonar
surveys surrounding the island and diver
inspections of any cultural resources. The
control points geodetically surveyed during
this field work will provide needed data:
park managers intend to use elevation to
determine whether resources found in the
intertidal zone are within the jurisdiction
and protection of the NPS. Saint Croix Island is entirely within the
boundaries of the United States, and the
island itself is managed by the National
Park Service; however, both Parcs Canada
and the NPS maintain interpretive sites for
Saint Croix Island International Historic
Site. The agencies cooperate to educate the
public about the significance of the island
for the cultural history of both nations.
New York
City Hall Park (submitted by Alyssa
Loorya, and Christopher Ricciardi, Chrysalis
Archaeology; and Edward M. Morin, Daniel B.
Eichinger, and Eileen Krall, URS – Burlington):
Since May 2010 Chrysalis Archaeology and
URS – Burlington have been conducting
archaeological testing and construction
monitoring at New York City’s City Hall
within City Hall Park. The property is part
of the landmark African Burial Ground and
The Commons Historic and Archaeological
District. Past projects have demonstrated
that the property is minimally disturbed
and remains a rich archaeological resource.
The area known as City Hall Park has
been public space and used for municipal
purposes since the 17th century. Its
earliest institutional use dates to the 1735
construction of New York City’s first
Almshouse. Over the next 75 years the
property would house two prisons, a second
Almshouse, and several British barracks
during the Revolutionary period, and serve
as a burial ground. The first Almshouse
was demolished in 1797; it stood within the
footprint of the current City Hall, which
was constructed between 1803 and 1811.
By 1860 all the remaining 18th-century
structures had been demolished and the
newly created City Hall Park was open to
the public. Tweed Courthouse, at the park’s
northern end, was constructed between
1861 and 1872.
The current project has uncovered
an array of architectural features and
associated deposits ranging from the
18th century through the early decades
Volume 43: Number 4
of City Hall. The close proximity of these
features highlights the density of the
historic occupation of the area as well as
its continued use and reuse. Among the
architectural features uncovered within
a 1500 ft.2 area are a 13 ft. diameter 18thcentury well, a 16 ft. diameter 18th-century
cistern, a 19th-century outdoor kitchen, an
unidentified brick square shaft feature, and
an extensive 19th-century brick drainage
system. Other architectural features located
on-site include early retaining walls, shaft
features, a well, and two 18 ft. diameter
19th-century cisterns.
Work within the basement of City Hall
has revealed several original architectural
details, including a fireplace with a stepped
horizontal chimney that vented through
the side of the building and a sizable
kitchen hearth. A bricked-up doorway in
this former basement kitchen aligns with
a stone sill and entryway on the exterior
of the building and appears to lead to the
outdoor kitchen feature. Testing within the
basement uncovered 18th-century deposits
associated with the almshouse. Artifacts
include bone button blanks, sewing pins, a
1746 British farthing, and eyeglass frames.
Another square brick feature was later
repurposed for drainage and contained
an artifact-laden ash deposit dating to the
mid-19th century. Among the artifacts were
pottery, wine and liquor bottles, drinking
glasses, a spittoon, and buttons. Adjacent
to and beneath this feature was a late18th- through early-19th-century midden
dominated by large mammal bones.
City Hall Park has been heavily used
and densely populated during its 300+ years
of occupation. The multiple archaeological
and historical investigations of the area
continue to provide new theories and
insights about institutional and municipal
materials and landscape use within the city
of New York. The current renovation project
at City Hall, being undertaken by the City
of New York – Department of Design and
Construction, is scheduled to be completed
in July 2011.
New Jersey
Nineteenth-Century
Historic
Archaeological
District
Identified,
Highland Lakes (submitted by Dane D.
Snyder, Gray & Pape, Inc.): Gray & Pape
archaeologists identified a 19th-century
historic archaeological district near
Highland Lakes, Sussex County, New
Jersey. The eight archaeological sites once
made up the community of Cherry Ridge
and are now part of the Wawayanda State
Park. Visible remains consist of a cemetery,
the foundations of domestic dwellings/
farmsteads and a school houseas well as a
Winter 2010
. The first settler is believed to have been
William Utter, an American Revolutionary
veteran (he would go on to serve in the
War of 1812 as well), at the turn of the
19th century. Utter died in 1826 at the age
of 69 and is buried in the Cherry Ridge
Cemetery; his tombstone bears the earliest
date in the cemetery. The last resident of
Cherry Ridge passed away in 1917, and the
Cherry Ridge community then died out as
the city of Newark and the New Jersey Zinc
Company began to purchase properties for
mining and development purposes.
The Phase I Investigations discovered
the remains of two stone-lined wells,
an overgrown cemetery, and several
stone foundations including dwellings,
outhouses, pens, and barns. The Phase II
Evaluation uncovered a plethora of historic
artifacts, among them buttons, coins, and
ceramics which dated the community
from the early 19th century to the turn of
the 20th. Background research and historic
maps of the 19th century identified the
William Utter property and indicated that
it was solely occupied by the Utters during
the entirety of the community’s existence.
While it has been abandoned for nearly 100
years, the farmstead retains the potential
to yield significant information regarding
the 19th-century way of life of a single,
documented family group.
The data recovered during this study
was consistent with the findings of the
background research and historic maps
of the 19th century. The Cherry Ridge
Archaeological District has the potential
to yield significant information about
the residents who once occupied this
community. The importance of the data
recovered from this settlement is amplified
by the fact that the deposits are so closely
associated with the period of occupation,
and can therefore be considered in light
of such issues as ethnicity, class status,
profession, etc. in the specific context of the
site. Gray & Pape is currently developing an
MOA and an alternative mitigation plan for
the Cherry Ridge Archaeological District.
USA-Pacific West
Kimberly Wooten
<kimberly_wooten@dot.ca.gov>
California
Identifying Early Ordnance at the
Presidio of Santa Barbara (submitted by
Michael D. Hardwick, Life Honorary Trustee,
Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation,
<hardwic2@cox.net>): Founded on 21 April
1782, the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara
Page 26
was the last in a chain of four military at Annapolis, John had previously Favorita are carrying” (AGI 518: 1782-1784).
fortresses built by the Spanish along the photographed and cataloged the Spanish
The following year (1783) the garrison
coast of Alta California, then a wilderness cannon collection at the Academy. He was commandant, José de Ortega, noted the
frontier. Ordnance originally supplied to able to clarify references to ordnance at the following in a memo of ordnance to his
the presidio included two bronze four- Santa Barbara Presidio by linking them successor Felipe de Goycoechea:
pounders, each weighing over 700 pounds: to the bronze four-pounder cannon at the
these were known as cañones de campaña. Academy. Some of these had been captured
1 cannon, bronze re-enforced 4 calibers
Unfortunately, in California none of the in California during the Mexican-American weighing 7 quintals 62 pounds (762 pounds)
original presidial four-pounder (de a 4) conflict of the late 1840s and shipped to the in good condition and mounted.
cannon have survived. Recently cannon East Coast as trophies of war. As it turned
1 cannon, (same as above), weighing 7
of this type were located at the U.S. Naval out, the weights engraved on the cannon at quintals 46 pounds (746 pounds) in good
Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The the Academy were within a few pounds of condition and mounted.
Navy had taken them as trophies of war in those described in records from 1783 listing
1 iron bore-swab ramrod of wood, good
1847 during the Mexican War in California. inventory at the Presidio in Santa Barbara.
condition
By comparing original inventory records at
In 2005, a study of the arms and
1 iron ladle with swabbing sponge,
the presidio with the physical characteristics armament of the Santa Barbara Presidio good condition
of the cannon at the Naval Academy, it was was undertaken by this author. Weapons
2 touchhole scrapers (picks for
possible to identify the cannon that were inventories, powder stores, and munitions puncturing the charge), good condition
most likely supplied to the presidio.
were compiled by year from notes and
1 cartridge case [made] of wood (Sahyun
Very little information exists concerning translated source material at the Santa n/d:100, 197)
the armament and weaponry used in the Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation
18th-century presidios of California. Such Research Center. Richard Whitehead and
As part of the blueprint for establishing
garrisons were manned by dragoon soldados Donald Cutter, authors of Citadel on the a frontier garrison such as the presidio in
de cuera (leatherSanta
Barbara
jacket
soldiers).
in the late 18th
These soldiers did
century,
there
carry firearms, but
probably was a
their weapon of
standard for the
choice was the lance.
size of ordnance
By the late 18th
at the garrison. It
century soldados
seems that fourde
cuera
were
pounder cannon
serving in fortified
were
preferred.
presidial garrisons.
In October of
The garrisons were FIGURE 1. Cañon de campaña at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. It is most likely a 1790 the garrison
typically supplied California Presidio bronze four-pound (de a 4) cannon. (Photo courtesy of John Morris, 2009.)
commander
at
with cannon, but it
Santa
Barbara,
was presumed that
Lt.
Felipe
de
this took the form of light antipersonnel Channel, had originally assembled source Goycoechea, exchanged his original issue
artillery. Presidial soldiers typically had no documents and had them translated. bronze 4 caliber cannon for two lighter
formal training in the use of artillery. Plans However, these authors underutilized guns from the frigate Aranzazu. These
for California presidios, however, showed information related to presidio armament, were, however, only two-pounder (de a 2)
gun bastions (baluartes) in opposing corners, and focused on the construction of the cannon and considered by higher-ups to
suggesting that the bastions were designed Presidio at Santa Barbara.
be inadequate for the presidio. The viceroy
to support fairly heavy field pieces for the
A specific citation from Whitehead and later notified Goycoechea that the Aranzazu
defense of garrison walls. It seems odd that Cutter’s book mentions artillery supplied cannon were to be returned, as the guns at
such gun bastions would be designed to to the presidio at its founding:
the Santa Barbara Presidio should be the
support small cannon.
larger four-pounder cannon (Hardwick
As mentioned above, the presidio of
The Governor [Felipe de Neve] has
n/d:31).
Santa Barbara was initially equipped with
asked for two cannons de a 4 [using
Spain did not have a well-defined
two bronze cannon, which fired a fourfour-pound cannon balls] and suitable
system of field artillery until the late 18th
pound ball about 3 ½ in. in diameter. These
cartridges, half of them grapeshot, for the
century when, following the lead of the
cannon were also capable of firing grapeshot
defense of the aforementioned presidio,
French, the Spanish began to develop light
(a cluster of smaller balls), producing
and [requested] that transporting be
mobile cannon that could travel with the
an effect rather like that of a large-bore
done by way of [the Naval Department
army. These often took the form of a bronze
shotgun. As mentioned above, these cannon
of] San Blas (Whitehead and Cutter
four-pounder cannon, field pieces known
each weighed over 700 pounds, so having a
1996:62).
as cañones de campaña. In approximately
gun bastion to support them made sense.
1770, the Spanish Crown adopted a
In August of 2009 John Morris, a
On 30 June 1782 Governor de Neve nonstandard design cast by Josephus
cannon expert with the Springfield Arsenal reported that cannon were on the way to Barnola at the royal foundry in Barcelona.
in Alexandria, Virginia, was contacted the new presidio at Santa Barbara: “Soon This style of cannon had an extremely
to see if he had any knowledge of early- the useful store of munitions will receive long breech with no dolphins (handles for
18th-century Spanish bronze four-pounder two cannon of 4 caliber, and cartridges, lifting the gun). The coat of arms of King
cannon weighing more than 700 pounds. corresponding amounts of ball and Charles III was absent from the breech,
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy grapeshot, which the frigates Princesa and and a cannon name was engraved on the
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 27
Washington State are prime
examples of how bronze
Spanish cannon were often
marked. These twentyfour-pounders were used in
larger fortresses in colonies
like Cuba, Mexico, and the
Philippines. Few, if any,
were used in Alta California.
If used, they were not in
the presidios themselves,
but in castillos (coastal gun
emplacements). Trunnions
were inscribed with the
specifics for each cannon.
FIGURE 2. Captured in the Philippines during the Spanish Gunmetal
composition
American War, 18th-century twenty-four-pounder (de a 24) was specified on the
cannon on display at Fort Lewis in Washington State are prime left trunnion (facing the
examples of how bronze Spanish cannon were marked. (Drawing cannon from the back).
by Fred S. Rice, 1949.)
Typical inscriptions were:
“Cobre de Mexico” (Copper
from Mexico) or “Cobre
barrel in a raised scroll (Brinckerhoff and
Chamberlain 1972:126–127). Cannon of this Yngles y Mexico” (English and Mexican
type sported a bore of 3 ½ in., measured Copper)—suggesting that the cannon were
almost 5 ½ ft. in length, and were known perhaps recast from older bronze. The
to weigh in excess of 600 pounds. The left weight of the gun was indicated on the
trunnion (pivot) identified the source of the right trunnion. Weight was often marked
gunmetal used to cast the gun. The right with abbreviations: q or qq is for quintales
trunnion was marked with the weight or (100 weight), @ was for arroba (roughly 25
pesa (abbreviated Po) of the cannon. Cannon pounds). The breech of the gun was often
weight was often in quintales (abbreviated engraved with the king’s cipher, date, and
q). A Spanish quintal was equivalent to place of manufacture.
Eighteenth-century cannon may seem
slightly more than 100 English pounds.
Fractions of a quintal were given in libras but curiosities in our time, but in the past they
(abbreviated ls). A Spanish libra was almost were weapons of war issued and controlled
by kings and royal armies. Customarily
equal to an English pound.
One cannon at the Naval Academy is manufactured in royal foundries according
most likely a California Presidio bronze to standardized specifications, bronze
four-pounder and is very much like the cannon were often inscribed with dates and
one inventoried at Santa Barbara in 1783. places of manufacture. They were typically
Mislabeled as a Spanish eight-pounder, marked with a king’s cipher and could also
it is a trophy of the Mexican War in name the designer of the ordnance. Various
California. The bronze plaque on the breech other markings on trunnions identified
reads: “Spanish eight-pounder named El the source of the metal used in casting as
Gallard, captured by the U.S. Navy from well as weight of the cannon. As historical
the Mexicans in California 1847.” The top artifacts, they are windows into the history
inscription on the right trunnion (as you of their time.
face the cannon from the back) reads: “7qs68Ls” (7 quintales, 68 libras) or roughly 768 References
pounds, which is very close to the described
weight of the Santa Barbara Presidio AGI 518
Audiencia de Guadalajara,
cannon. Inscriptions on the trunnion below 1782–1784
the weight read “PESoCASo,” PESo (Peso 518. Microfilm Roll IIA, Reel 1806–1815,
= weight) and CASo (unknown). The back trans. Henry Schewel, translations binder
breech face of the cannon is engraved with 1782–1784, Santa Barbara Presidio Research
the words: “Josephus Barnola Fecit Barl Center, Santa Barbara, CA.
1766,” which means, “Josephus Barnola
cast it in Barcelona in 1766.” The tube is Brinckerhoff, Sidney B., and Pierce A.
named El Gallard, which is engraved on the Chamberlain
chase (or barrel) of the gun. El Gallardo in 1972 Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial
Spanish means the “handsome, brave, or America 1700-1821. Stackpole Books,
Harrisburg, PA.
gallant one.”
Captured in the Philippines during
the Spanish American War, the 18th- Hardwick, Michael R.
century cannon on display at Fort Lewis in n.d. Arms and Armament, Presidios of
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
California. Unpublished manuscript.
Sahyun, Geraldine V. (translator)
n.d. Felipe de Goycoechea: list of the
military supplies of war which were
received in 1782 by his predecessor José
de Ortega. Translations binder 1782­–1784,
Santa Barbara Presidio Research Center,
Santa Barbara, CA.
Whitehead, Richard S., and Donald A.
Cutter
1996 Citadel on the Channel: The Royal
Presidio of Santa Barbara, its Founding and
Construction 1782-1798. Santa Barbara Trust
For Historic Preservation and Arthur H.
Clark Company, Santa Barbara, CA.
Hawaii
Archaeology of the Recent Past at Kalawao
(submitted by James L. Flexner, Ph.D.,
Department of Sociology and Anthropology,
Washington and Lee University, <flexnerj@
wlu.edu>):
In 1865, the Kingdom of
Hawaii passed An Act to Prevent the
Spread of Leprosy, and began purchasing
land on the north coast of Moloka‘i Island
for a leprosarium, or quarantine settlement
FIGURE 1. Excavation trench through the
foundation of a traditional Hawaiian house. A
coin bearing the date 1893 was recovered from
this trench in a habitation deposit just outside
of the far wall.
for people diagnosed with the disease.
Initial land purchases from local Native
Hawaiian inhabitants included the wet
valleys of Waikolu and Wai‘ale‘ia and
the ahupua‘a (traditional Hawaiian land
divisions) of Kalawao and Makanalua.
Page 28
By 1895 the Hawaiian Board of Health
had purchased the entire Kalaupapa
peninsula. Kalaupapa lies at the base of
sea cliffs that rise up to 1000 m in places
and is surrounded by notoriously difficult
waters. Thus it was thought to be an ideal
location for a quarantine settlement.
In 1866, the first settlers arrived
in Kalawao, and by the 1880s the
population of the settlement had grown
to over 1100 exiles. While the majority of
the population in Kalawao was Native
Hawaiian, histories of the settlement
have tended to focus on European and
European American missionaries, above
all the Belgian Saint Father Damien,
who died a martyr’s death of leprosy in
1889. By the early 20th century, Kalawao
was essentially abandoned in favor
of a preferable location in Kalaupapa FIGURE 2. Decorated whitewares from a domestic
ahupua‘a. Leprosy quarantine policy in assemblage in Kalawao.
Hawaii would continue until 1969. The
with colonialism in the Pacific, as well as
recent canonization of Father Damien,
and the creation of a national memorial the social dynamics of total institutions.
While written documents emphasize the
in Kalaupapa, has renewed interest in the
rule-based organization of the settlement,
settlement.
From 2006 to 2009, archaeologists the suffering of inmates of the leprosarium,
supported by the U.S. National Park and the heroism of missionaries, archaeology
Service and the University of California, revealed patterns that were more indicative
Berkeley, carried out field research in of day-to-day social life in a Hawaiian
Kalawao, focusing on material related to village. Settlement patterns reflected the
the early settlement between 1866 and underlying structure of the built landscape
1900. The results of survey and excavation prior to 1866, including prominent prework, together with spatial analysis and Contact Period ritual sites, with only minor
artifact analysis, were recently published modifications of portions of the landscape
in a doctoral dissertation by James Flexner for the leprosarium’s purposes. One of the
entitled Archaeology of the Recent Past at largest site complexes in the research area
Kalawao: Landscape, Place, and Power in includes a stone cistern with lime mortar on
a Hawaiian Hansen’s Disease Settlement the interior, constructed around 1886. This
(available through ProQuest/UMI, or feature is surrounded by enclosure walls
contact the author). This study examines built after European contact but before the
settlement patterns, domestic structures, establishment of the leprosarium, as well as
and material culture from Kalawao in the by pre-Contact Period terraces. One of these
light of larger transformations associated likely had a religious function, based on
the presence of an upright stone, which
is significant for pre-Contact Period
Hawaiian features.
There is abundant photographic, as
well as archaeological, evidence that
foreign-style domestic structures, such
as post-on-pier houses, were a part of
institutional life. However, excavations
also revealed continued habitation of
traditional thatched structures well into
the 1890s (Figure 1). Material culture
reflected the amount of consumer choice
available to inhabitants of the leprosarium,
especially after the establishment of the
Kalawao store in the 1870s. Domestic
assemblages contain eclectic mixtures
of multicolored ceramics (Figure 2), as
well as a variety of glass containers for
alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages,
medicines, ink, and other sundries. Faunal
assemblages suggest a reliance on beef,
which was provided as part of the official
provisioning program, supplemented by
the collecting of native marine resources
such as ‘opihi (limpets, Cellana spp.) and uhu
(parrotfish, fam. Scaridae).
Overall this research contributes to
the expansion of Hawaiian historical
archaeology into the latter part of the 19th
century, and the exploration of modern
leprosaria, institutions that were almost
exclusively created in colonial contexts.
Results suggest that such institutions
were only meant to isolate rather than
reform inmates, so the form of internal
social organization was left somewhat
open. Because of this, the mostly Native
Hawaiian exiles to the leprosarium at
Kalawao created a village organized
according to a Polynesian sensibility, a
challenge to orthodox narratives about
colonial and institutional power structures
in the islands.
Field school: Archaeology in Annapolis
During the summer of 2011, Archaeology in Annapolis will be offering a six-week archaeological field school from 31
May to 8 July, through the University of Maryland, College Park.
Excavations will be taking place in Historic Annapolis and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Students wishing to enroll
in this field school should contact Amanda Tang (<atang@anth.umd.edu>) or Jocelyn Knauf (<jknauf@anth.umd.edu>) or
call the Archaeology in Annapolis Laboratory at 301.405.1429.
Current information about Summer Programs at the University of Maryland—including tuition information—can
be found online at <http://www.summer.umd.edu>. Nonstudents who do not wish to enroll in the field school for
academic credit can still participate in a six-week workshop that runs concurrently with the field school and offers exactly
the same training and instruction for a reduced fee.
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 29
FINDING THE FAMILIAR II:
Retention, Discard, and Sampling Policies for post-1750 Artifacts
University of Leicester
Bennett Building Teaching Area 1 (BEN G85 - ground floor)
26 March 2011
10:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Brought to you by
The Centre for Historical Archaeology (University of Leicester)
and
The Finds Research Group
The material culture of the industrial age (defined for this workshop as ca. 1750–ca. 1940) is increasingly of interest to British archaeologists, whether working in academia, museums, or commercial archaeology. Yet this increased interest comes at a time when hardpressed local archives are increasingly reluctant—and in some cases unable—to accept large collections of artifacts from the period
of mass production and mass consumption. Finds from more recent sites (or more recent levels of multiperiod sites) therefore often
continue to be discarded or ignored despite the growing level of professional interest (whether driven by personal inclination or professional necessity).
This workshop addresses this paradox between the growing interest on the artifacts of the more recent past, and the reluctance of many
archives to store them. To that end, it brings together speakers representing academia, commercial archaeology, and local museums
and archives from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ireland in order to consider the desirability of developing retention,
discard, and sampling policies for post-1750 artifacts, and how those policies should be formulated. A roundtable discussion open to all
workshop participants will close the day.
The registration fee of £5 is payable on the day, but attendees are asked to register in advance as spaces are limited. To download a
registration form, please go to: <http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/archaeology/research/events>.
For maps of, and directions to, the University of Leicester, go to <http://www2.le.ac.uk/maps> (the campus is a short walk from the
train station).
Please direct queries to Alasdair Brooks, <amb72@le.ac.uk>.
National Park Service’s 2011 Archaeological Prospection Workshop
The National Park Service’s 2011 workshop on archaeological prospection techniques, “Current Archaeological Prospection Advances
for Non-Destructive Investigations in the 21st Century,” will be held 23–27 May 2011 at the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical
Park in Brownsville, Texas. Lodging will be at the Courtyard by Marriott in Brownsville.
The field exercises will take place at the site of Fort Brown on the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
campus in Brownsville. The Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park preserves the historic and archaeological remnants of the
first battle of the Mexican War in 1846. Cosponsors for the workshop include the National Park Service’s Palo Alto Battlefield National
Historical Park and the Midwest Archeological Center.
This will be the 21st year of the workshop, which is dedicated to the use of geophysical, aerial photography, and other remote sensing
methods as they apply to the identification, evaluation, conservation, and protection of archaeological resources across this nation.
The workshop will present lectures on the theory of operation, methodology, processing, and interpretation with hands-on use of the
equipment in the field. There is a registration charge of $475.00.
Application forms are available on the Midwest Archeological Center’s web page at <http://www.nps.gov/history/mwac/>. For
further information, please contact Steven L. DeVore, Archeologist, National Park Service, Midwest Archeological Center, Federal
Building, Room 474, 100 Centennial Mall North, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508-3873; phone: 402.437.5392, ext. 141; fax: 402.437.5098; email:
<steve_de_vore@nps.gov>.
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 30
Archeomatica
CALL FOR PAPERS
Archeomatica is a new, multidisciplinary journal, printed in Italy, devoted to the presentation and the dissemination of advanced
methodologies, emerging technologies, and techniques for the knowledge, documentation, and conservation of cultural heritage.
The journal aims to publish papers of significant and lasting value by scientists, conservators, and archaeologists on diffusion of
specific new methodologies and experimental results. Archeomatica will also emphasize fruitful discussion on the best up-to-date
scientific applications and assist with the dissemination of ideas and findings related to any aspect of the cultural heritage sector.
Archeomatica is intended also to be a primary source of multidisciplinary information for the sector of cultural heritage.
The journal is divided in three sections:
Documentazione (survey and documentation)
Rivelazioni (analysis, diagnostics, and monitoring)
Restauro (materials and intervention techniques).
The issues are also published online at the website <www.archeomatica.it >.
Archeomatica invites submissions of high-quality papers and interdisciplinary works for future issues in all areas related to science
and technology in cultural heritage, particularly recent developments. If you are interested, please submit an original paper to:
<paper-submission@archeomatica.it>. Papers will be reviewed by the scientific board after which they will be accepted or rejected
in order to maintain quality. Applicants will be notified by email as to their acceptance. Topics and trends relevant to Archeomatica
include, but are not limited to: methodologies and analytical techniques for the characterization and for the evaluation of the state
of preservation of historical masterpieces; on-site and remotely sensed data collection; digital artifact capture, representation, and
manipulation; experiences in cultural heritage conservation; methods for data elaboration and cataloging; setting of historical
architectures; intelligent tools for digital reconstruction; augmentation of physical collections with digital presentations; applications
in education and tourism; archaeological reconstruction; electronic corpora; XML and databases and computational interpretation;
three-dimensional computer modeling; Second Life and virtual worlds; image capture, processing, and interpretation; 3-D laser
scanning, synchrotron, or X-ray imaging and analysis; technology; metadata of material culture; optical 3-D measurement; cultural
heritage recording; terrestrial laser scanning; virtual reality data acquisition; photogrammetric processing; GPS; GIS; remote sensing;
culture portals; advanced systems for digital culture in museums, archives, and art institutions; digitalization of cultural property;
Web 2.0 and development of social networks on top of cultural heritage portals; applications of mobile technologies for digital culture
and cultural heritage; ubiquitous and pervasive computing; methodologies and approaches to digitization; augmented reality, virtual
reality and digital culture; access to archives in Europe; books and electronic publishing; 2/3/4D data capture and processing in
cultural heritage; web-based museum guides; applications of semantic web technologies in cultural heritage; nondestructive analytical
techniques for the study of the composition and decay of cultural heritage components; management of heritage knowledge and data;
visualization for cultural heritage.
Publication Frequency
The journal will be published quarterly.
Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission’s compliance with all of the previous items and
the Instructions to Authors, and submissions may be returned to authors who do not adhere to these guidelines.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for articles published in this journal is transferred by the authors to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this journal,
articles can be reproduced or copied in whole or in part, with proper attribution, in educational and other noncommercial settings.
Interested authors should download and read the Instructions to Authors as a guide to all details of requirements, procedures, paper
mechanics, referencing style, and the technical review process for submitted papers.
Color diagrams, figures, and photographs are encouraged. Papers should be submitted as a plain text, single-spaced Word or RTF file.
Formatting should be kept to an absolute minimum. Do not embed graphics, tables, figures, or photographs in the text, but supply
them in separate files, along with captions. Papers, diagrams, tables, etc. should be emailed as attached files to the email address
mentioned above.
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 31
SHA 2012
Baltimore, Maryland
THE SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWSLETTER
Please note the deadlines for submissions of news
for UPCOMING ISSUES of the SHA Newsletter
Spring 2011 . . . . . 1 February 2011
Summer 2011 . . . . . 1 May 2011
Fall 2011 . . . . . 1 August 2011
Winter 2011 . . . . . 1 November 2011
SHA Business Office
9707 Key West Avenue, Suite 100
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: 301.990.2454
Fax: 301.990.9771
Email: <hq@sha.org>
SHA Newsletter Editor Alasdair Brooks: <amb72@le.ac.uk>
Volume 43: Number 4
Winter 2010
Page 32